rile
Get someone's goat
Rile means to irritate or annoy, stirring someone to anger or agitation: Don't let him rile you up.
The word suggests provoking a reaction, getting under someone's skin.
Often appears with "up": The crowd was riled up by the speaker's comments.
Rile can also describe stirring up water or sediment, making it turbid—the same idea of disturbing what was calm.
Cause mild irritation
- exasperateAnnoy to frustration
- vexTo irritate persistently
- irkTo mildly vex
- peeveSmall recurring annoyance
grate · bother · aggravate · infuriate · provoke · needle · pique · rankle
annoy
Cause mild irritation
- exasperateAnnoy to frustration
- vexTo irritate persistently
- irkTo mildly vex
peeve · grate · bother · aggravate · infuriate · provoke · needle · pique · rankle · chafe
incite
Urge toward action
taunt · needle · antagonize · stir up · egg on · prod · spur · challenge · poke · badger
stir
Mix by circling
disquiet · fluster · discompose · disconcert · trouble · shake · upset · disrupt · jolt · excite
- American slangbamboozle, bogus, bunkum, conniption, discombobulate
- teasingtease, teasing, rib, ribbing, josh