| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make someone mad; become mad |
| Synonyms: | acerbate, affront, aggravate, agitate, annoy, antagonize, arouse, bait, blow up, boil over, boil, bristle, burn, burn up, chafe, craze*, cross, displease, egg on, embitter, enrage, exacerbate, exasperate, excite, fret, gall, get mad, get on one's nerves, goad, incense, inflame, infuriate, irritate, lose one's temper, madden, make sore, miff, nettle, offend, outrage, pique, provoke, raise hell, rankle, rant, rave, rile, ruffle, seethe, steam up, stew, stir up, tempt, umbrage, vex |
| Antonyms: | calm, forbear, make happy, quiet, soothe |
| Main Entry: | awaken |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make conscious or alert |
| Synonyms: | activate, animate, arouse, awake, call, enliven, excite, fan, incite, kindle, pile out, provoke, rally, revive, rise and shine, roll out, rouse, show a leg, stimulate, stir up, turn out, vivify, wake |
| Antonyms: | deaden, go to sleep, hypnotize |
| Main Entry: | brew |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | plan, devise |
| Synonyms: | breed, compound, concoct, contrive, develop, excite, foment, form, gather, hatch, impend, loom, mull, plot, project, scheme, start, stir up, weave |
| Main Entry: | churn |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | mix up, beat |
| Synonyms: | agitate, boil, bubble, convulse, ferment, foam, froth, jolt, moil, seethe, simmer, stir up, swirl, toss |
| Main Entry: | confuse |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | bewilder someone |
| Synonyms: | abash, addle, amaze, astonish, baffle, becloud, bedevil, befuddle, bemuse, cloud, clutter, complicate, confound, darken, daze, demoralize, discomfit, discompose, disconcert, discountenance, disorient, distract, embarrass, faze, fluster, fog, frustrate, fuddle, involve, lead astray, mess up*, misinform, mislead, mortify, muddle, mystify, nonplus, obscure, perplex, perturb, puzzle, rattle, render uncertain, shame, stir up, stump, throw off, throw off balance, trouble, unhinge, unsettle, upset, worry |
| Antonyms: | clarify, clear up, enlighten, explain |
| Main Entry: | egg on |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | push to do something |
| Synonyms: | agitate, arouse, drive, encourage, excite, exhort, goad, incite, instigate, pique, prick, prod, prompt, propel, rally, sic, spur, stimulate, stir up, urge, whip up |
| Antonyms: | discourage, dissuade, hold back, talk out of |
| Main Entry: | evoke |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | induce, stimulate |
| Synonyms: | arouse, awaken, call, call forth, conjure, educe, elicit, evince, evolve, excite, extort, extract, give rise to, invoke, milk, provoke, raise, rally, recall, rouse, stir up, summon, waken |
| Notes: | invoke is to call upon or appeal to something or someone for help or inspiration, while evoke is to bring or call something to the conscious mind; evoke is from Latin evocare 'to call out' while invoke is from invocare 'to call on' provoke means to stir up or arouse - or to incite to anger or resentment; evoke means to call forth or call to mind emotions, feelings, and responses |
| Antonyms: | halt, quell, repress, silence, stifle, stop, suppress |
| Main Entry: | excite |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | inspire; upset |
| Synonyms: | accelerate, agitate, amaze, anger, animate, annoy, arouse, astound, awaken, bother, chafe, delight, discompose, disturb, electrify, elicit, energize, evoke, feed the fire, fire, fluster, foment, galvanize, goad, incite, induce, inflame, infuriate, instigate, intensify, irritate, jar, jolt, kindle, madden, mock, move, offend, precipitate, provoke, quicken, rouse, start, stimulate, stir up, taunt, tease, thrill, titillate, touch off, vex, wake up, waken, warm, whet, work up, worry |
| Antonyms: | bore, calm, compose, deaden, lull, moderate, pacify, quiet, repress, tranquilize |
| Main Entry: | fan |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | provoke |
| Synonyms: | add fuel, agitate, arouse, enkindle, excite, expand, extend, impassion, increase, rouse, stimulate, stir up, whip up, work up |