rile
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹaɪl/
ipa: /ɹɑel/
ipa: /ɹaɪl/
ipa: [ɹɑe̯l]
rhymes: -aɪl
Forms: form: riles
form: riling
form: riled
form: riled
Etymology: From a dialectal pronunciation of roil.
Senses: examples: text: Money problems rile the underpaid worker every day.
text: Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really rile me.
text: It riles me that she never closes the door after she leaves.
text: “Boh!” said Tom, “don’t I know?—don’t make me too sick with any yer stuff,—my stomach is a leetle riled now;” and Tom drank half a glass of raw brandy.
ref: 1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC:
synonyms: word: aggravate
word: irritate
word: trouble
word: vex
word: aggravate
word: annoy
word: rankle
word: ruffle
word: sting
word: antagonize
word: bother
word: disgruntle
word: botherate
word: bug
word: get
word: grate
word: burn up
word: bedevil
word: cheese off
word: devil
word: exasperate
word: frustrate
word: get up
word: grotch
word: hack off
word: hassle
word: irk
word: irritate
word: jazz
word: molest
word: mommick
word: nark
word: nerve
word: pee off
word: peeve
word: persecute
word: pique
word: piss off
word: provoke
word: rile
word: rile up
word: roil
word: storm
word: test someone's patience
word: tick off
word: trouble
word: try one's patience
word: vex
word: wind up
word: Idioms:
word: boil someone's piss
word: chap someone's hide
word: get on someone's nerves
word: get on someone's tits
word: get on someone's wick
word: get someone's back up
word: get someone's dander up
word: get someone's goat
word: get someone's Irish up
word: get someone's nanny
word: get someone's nanny-goat
word: get under one's goat
word: get under someone's skin
word: give someone the shits
word: grind one's gears
word: harsh one's mellow
word: put someone's back up
word: raise someone's hackles
word: rub someone the wrong way
word: rub up the wrong way
word: ruffle someone's feathers
word: tee off
word: torque off
glosses: To stir or move from a state of calm or order.
examples: text: Riled by a decision that went against him, Ziv kicked his displaced boot at the assistant referee and, after a short consultation between the officials, he was given his marching orders and the loudest cheer of the night.
ref: 2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in BBC Sport:
text: Francis riled conservative cardinals with his compassion for migrants and refugees, openness towards LGBTQ+ Catholics and demands for action on the climate crisis.
ref: 2025 May 8, Angela Giuffrida and Harriet Sherwood, “White smoke from Sistine Chapel chimney signals election of new pope”, in The Guardian:
synonyms: word: anger
word: affront
word: aggravate
word: anger
word: antagonize
word: awrath
word: burn up
word: cheese off
word: cross
word: embitter
word: envenom
word: gall
word: get
word: get to
word: honk off
word: incense
word: inflame
word: infuriate
word: madden
word: make angry
word: nark
word: offend
word: outrage
word: provoke
word: put out
word: rankle
word: rile
word: piss off
word: roil
word: set off
word: steam
word: tick off
word: get one's back up
word: get someone's dander up
word: get someone's goat
word: get someone's Irish up
word: make someone see red
word: make someone's blood boil
word: put someone's back up
word: raise someone's hackles
word: raise someone's shag
word: rattle someone's cage
word: rub the wrong way
word: ruffle some feathers
word: set up someone's birse
glosses: To make angry.
raw_tags: in particular
Derived terms: rilesome
riley
to rile up