egged on
Pushed to act
Egged on is the past tense of egg on, meaning to urge or encourage someone toward action, usually something risky or unwise: Egged on by his friends, he jumped from the roof into the pool.
The egg here has nothing to do with food—it comes from an old word meaning to incite or goad.
- incitementProvoking unlawful behavior
- goadedIncited to action
- urgingStrongly encouraging action
- promptedCaused to act
- emboldenedMade more courageous
provocation · instigation · stirred up · spurring · dared · put up to · prodding · talked into · persuasion · encouraged · taunted · wound up · tempted · cajoled · led astray · antagonized · sicced · worked up
encouragement vs. discouragement
egged ondiscouraged
Having lost confidence or enthusiasm
dissuaded · deterred · put off · dampened · disheartened
instigation vs. prevention
egged onheld back
Kept from advancing
restrained · discouraged · dissuaded · stopped · prevented