"provoking" in the verb sense
1. arouse, elicit, enkindle, kindle, evoke, fire, raise, provoke
call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses
"arouse pity"
"raise a smile"
"evoke sympathy"
2. provoke, evoke, call forth, kick up
evoke or provoke to appear or occur
"Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple"
3. provoke, stimulate
provide the needed stimulus for
4. harass, hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest, provoke
annoy continually or chronically
"He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"
"This man harasses his female co-workers"
"provoking" in the adjective sense
1. agitative, agitating, provoking
causing or tending to cause anger or resentment
"a provoking delay at the airport"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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