1
as in urging
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in poking
to urge or push forward with or as if with a pointed object
goading the horse forward into the stall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of goading
Reporters looking to stir up trouble in the press room were goading American players, particularly those with foreign-sounding last names.
—
Beth Herman, Boston Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
Julian and Neil take to goading and championing the understandably hangdog Matt.
—Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 5 Feb. 2026
Agents made several arrests in supermarket parking lots and at tamale stands while goading angry residents who confronted them and threatening to unleash tear gas.
—Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 23 Jan. 2026
The mind thrills to imagine a genderless prophet among the brocades and buckskin breeches of Revolutionary America, weirding out the normies, sticking a flower in the barrel of a musket, and goading the new nation to let its hair down—literally.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Anthropic’s Claude wanted to know whether my headache was tension-related, due to sinus pressure, or something else entirely—hardly a goading question.
—Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2025
Beth Herman, Boston Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
Julian and Neil take to goading and championing the understandably hangdog Matt.
—Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 5 Feb. 2026
Agents made several arrests in supermarket parking lots and at tamale stands while goading angry residents who confronted them and threatening to unleash tear gas.
—Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 23 Jan. 2026
The mind thrills to imagine a genderless prophet among the brocades and buckskin breeches of Revolutionary America, weirding out the normies, sticking a flower in the barrel of a musket, and goading the new nation to let its hair down—literally.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Anthropic’s Claude wanted to know whether my headache was tension-related, due to sinus pressure, or something else entirely—hardly a goading question.
—Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for goading
Verb
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Arab and Islamic countries, including Turkey and Qatar, have been urging both sides to show restraint, warning that any strike or retaliation could have destabilizing consequences for a region already strained by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.—
Farnoush Amiri,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
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The cases led investigators to release Garcia-Aquino's picture, urging any potential victims to come forward.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The Telltale Signs of Rotary Motion The re-examination revealed unmistakable evidence that this was no simple awl meant for poking holes.—
Ryan Brennan,
Miami Herald,
13 Feb. 2026
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Garlic is a kitchen staple for many, but spotting a green sprout poking out of a clove can raise questions about food safety.—
Caitlin Beale,
Health,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The challenge lies in balancing functional benefit with the risk of encouraging unnecessary anthropomorphism and its broader social consequences.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
8 Feb. 2026
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This structure is intended to help keep value circulating within the community, encouraging positive participation rather than framing compliance as a penalty.—
Nia Bowers,
USA Today,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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What’s spurring the slide now isn’t a dearth of information or cutting-edge medicine.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
9 Feb. 2026
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The far higher leverage, action-spurring pressure point on March 6, however, is still the main event.—
Thomas Drance,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The former is a ring on the bottom of the rock that skids across the ice, and the latter is a band around the sides of the rock that collides with other rocks (ideally knocking an opponent’s rock off the bull’s-eye or nudging your team’s closer to it).—
Andrea Thompson,
Scientific American,
10 Feb. 2026
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Shared decision-making tools that present options in balanced, comprehensible formats can support informed choice without nudging patients toward any particular decision.—
Jared Rhoads,
STAT,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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There are close-ups of hands kneading dough, a snail sliming its way up a window and Cathy prodding a jellied fish with her finger.—
Emily Zemler,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
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Elliott, which took a $4 billion stake in PepsiCo in September, has been prodding the company’s board to make changes, saying PepsiCo was being hurt by slowing growth and lower profits in its North American food and beverage business.—
Dee-Ann Durbin,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Mohammed Ahmad Hussein al-Halsi was sentenced in 2016 to 18 years behind bars for stabbing elderly women.—
Landon Mion,
FOXNews.com,
13 Feb. 2026
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Another Jefferson County circuit judge, Jessica Green, last year drew local and national criticism after granting shock probation to a 32-year-old man accused of abducting a mother and two children and stabbing the mother during a bank robbery.—
Monroe Trombly,
Louisville Courier Journal,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The former Ohio State linebacker is reportedly still on probation stemming from a 2023 arrest for allegedly punching a female relative in the head multiple times.—
Jami Ganz,
Mercury News,
8 Feb. 2026
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The former Ohio State linebacker is reportedly still on probation stemming from a 2023 arrest for allegedly punching a female relative in the head multiple times.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Goading.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/goading. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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