Meaning & use
goad
Last updated
To provoke or urge someone into action, often by teasing or annoying them.
See it in a sentence
His friends goaded him into trying the spiciest dish on the menu.
She refused to be goaded into an argument, no matter how much he pushed.
A note on using this word
Can also be a noun for a pointed stick used to drive cattle, the origin of the verb's sense of "prodding" someone into action.
Words with a similar meaning
provokeincite
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
Another way to use it
2. noun
A pointed stick used to prod animals into moving.
The farmer used a goad to guide the oxen along the path.
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