1
as in urged
to try to persuade (someone) through earnest appeals to follow a course of action
tried to goad me into auditioning for the play
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of goaded
Trump, though never restrained, is now pure id, acting on impulse and goaded on by advisers who see an opportunity to further expand executive power.
—
Jonathan Lemire, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026
Her ups and downs were a regular punch line on late-night talk shows, starting with her first appearance on The Tonight Show in 1985, when she was goaded into agreeing to lose 15 lbs.
—Eileen Finan, PEOPLE, 30 Dec. 2025
Democrats saw him as a master of dark arts, beholden to his former pals in the oil industry and a warmonger who goaded the nation to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to help his benefactors.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 20 Nov. 2025
In one instance, Holmes alleged, Lorch goaded Holmes into a storage room and told him to climb a ladder to a lofted space to retrieve some uniforms.
—Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 17 Oct. 2025
Instead, he is now being goaded into the impossible retaking of land Ukraine could not get back in the summer of 2023, during a heavily prepped counter-offensive.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2025
His facial expressions and reactions to Lynch’s promos and her being goaded into this WrestlePalooza mixed tag team match suggest that there are more problems to come for the powerful heel duo.
—Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
In the course of the conversation, his old friend goaded him into trying his hand at womenswear.
—Ana Karina Zatarain, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2025
During her trial, prosecutors said Rodriguez had goaded the officers for video views.
—Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Sep. 2025
Jonathan Lemire, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026
Her ups and downs were a regular punch line on late-night talk shows, starting with her first appearance on The Tonight Show in 1985, when she was goaded into agreeing to lose 15 lbs.
—Eileen Finan, PEOPLE, 30 Dec. 2025
Democrats saw him as a master of dark arts, beholden to his former pals in the oil industry and a warmonger who goaded the nation to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to help his benefactors.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 20 Nov. 2025
In one instance, Holmes alleged, Lorch goaded Holmes into a storage room and told him to climb a ladder to a lofted space to retrieve some uniforms.
—Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 17 Oct. 2025
Instead, he is now being goaded into the impossible retaking of land Ukraine could not get back in the summer of 2023, during a heavily prepped counter-offensive.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2025
His facial expressions and reactions to Lynch’s promos and her being goaded into this WrestlePalooza mixed tag team match suggest that there are more problems to come for the powerful heel duo.
—Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
In the course of the conversation, his old friend goaded him into trying his hand at womenswear.
—Ana Karina Zatarain, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2025
During her trial, prosecutors said Rodriguez had goaded the officers for video views.
—Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for goaded
Verb
-
Footage of the incident shows King Charles greeting dozens of residents when one man shouted at him, asking whether the monarch had urged police to investigate his disgraced brother, according to The Times.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
6 Feb. 2026
-
His statements come after Trump moved to cut oil supply to the country and urged Cuban leaders to strike a deal, following the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.—
Nora Gamez Torres,
Miami Herald,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Some state legislators likened the current moment to the weeks after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, which helped unify Democratic lawmakers and spurred the passage of a marquee police oversight bill in Colorado.—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
8 Feb. 2026
-
The corpse abuse revelations spurred changes to Colorado’s lax funeral home regulations.—
Jesse Bedayn,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Schwartz encouraged the public to be active participants in community science.—
Karen Garcia,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Organizers encouraged people to join to stand together in love, peace and prayer.—
Laurie Perez,
CBS News,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The victim was stabbed multiple times in the back as the quarrel escalated, police said.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Elordi strides naturally through the film’s burning-of-Atlanta orange sunscapes and its grasslands stabbed by obsidian spikes of rock.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
In contrast to Luckin's typical offerings priced at roughly $1 or $2 for an Americano or latte, the flagship store has nudged prices slightly higher for a range of pour-over and cold brew coffee drinks.—
Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
8 Feb. 2026
-
In nonconference games, Arizona nudged Florida (93-87), UCLA (69-65) and UConn (71-67) and also ran away from Auburn (97-68) and Alabama (96-75).—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Other officials, too, prodded the IDNR after they were caught unaware about the possibility that the marina would not open for the 2026 season.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Feb. 2026
-
When Reusters/Ipsos respondents were prodded about which party had the better approach on immigration, the GOP held the edge with 37% versus Democrats at 32%.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The sports journalist, who split from Kelce in 2022, joined forces with Tiffany Haddish, Ben Simmons, and Offset in a Sleeper commercial that poked fun at the aftermath of calling it quits in the spotlight.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Altman and other senior executives took to social media to respond to swipes from Anthropic, which ran Super Bowl ads that poked fun at OpenAI's decision to run ads within ChatGPT.—
Ashley Capoot,Kate Rooney,
CNBC,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Abigail Boyd, an opposition Green lawmaker in the state parliament, said she had been punched by officers while attempting to vacate the site.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
10 Feb. 2026
-
But McCalla then got up, pursued Mudd and punched him.—
Bay Area News Group,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Goaded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/goaded. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
