Standard Lemma guide

rile

verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ɹaɪl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ɹɑel/
  • New-Zealand: /ɹaɪl/
  • New-Zealand: [ɹɑe̯l]
  • rhymes with -aɪl
  • CMU ARPABET: R AY1 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To stir or move from a state of calm or order.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Money problems rile the underpaid worker every day.
  • Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really rile me.
  • It riles me that she never closes the door after she leaves.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aggravate, irritate, trouble, vex, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting, antagonize, bother, disgruntle, botherate, bug, get, grate, burn up, bedevil, cheese off, devil, exasperate, frustrate, get up, grotch, hack off, hassle, irk, jazz, molest, mommick, nark, nerve, pee off, peeve, peeve off, persecute, pique, piss off, provoke, rile, rile up, roil, storm, test someone's patience, tick off, try one's patience, wind up, Idioms:, boil someone's piss, chap someone's hide, get on someone's nerves, get on someone's tits, get on someone's wick, get someone's back up, get someone's dander up, get someone's goat, get someone's Irish up, get someone's nanny, get someone's nanny-goat, get under one's goat, get under someone's skin, give someone the shits, grind one's gears, harsh one's mellow, put someone's back up, raise someone's hackles, rub someone the wrong way, rub up the wrong way, ruffle someone's feathers, tee off, torque off

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To make angry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: anger, affront, aggravate, antagonize, awrath, burn up, cheese off, cross, embitter, envenom, gall, get, get to, honk off, incense, inflame, infuriate, madden, make angry, nark, offend, outrage, provoke, put out, rankle, rile, piss off, roil, set off, steam, tick off, get one's back up, get someone's dander up, get someone's goat, get someone's Irish up, make someone see red, make someone's blood boil, put someone's back up, raise someone's hackles, raise someone's shag, rattle someone's cage, rub the wrong way, ruffle some feathers, set up someone's birse

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

make turbid by stirring up the sediments of

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: roil

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: agitate, vex, disturb, commove, shake up, stir up, raise up

Narrower terms: muddle, puddle

4

verb

Meaning 4

cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me
  • It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: annoy, rag, get to, bother, get at, irritate, nark, nettle, gravel, vex, chafe, devil

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: displease

Narrower terms: get, get under one's skin, eat into, fret, rankle, grate, peeve, ruffle, harass, hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest, provoke, antagonize, antagonise

History

Etymology

From a dialectal pronunciation of roil.

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: сърдя (sǎrdja) — to anger, annoy
  • Bulgarian: дразня (draznja) — to anger, annoy
  • Czech: lézt na nervy — to anger, annoy
  • Czech: vytáčet — to anger, annoy
  • Czech: štvát — to anger, annoy
  • Finnish: ärsyttää — to anger, annoy
  • Finnish: suututtaa — to anger, annoy
  • German: aufbringen — to anger, annoy
  • German: reizen — to anger, annoy
  • German: ärgern — to anger, annoy
  • Hungarian: bosszant — to anger, annoy
  • Hungarian: dühít — to anger, annoy
  • Hungarian: kihoz a sodrából — to anger, annoy
  • Ido: iracigar — to anger, annoy
  • Māori: whakariri — to anger, annoy
  • Māori: whakatakariri — to anger, annoy
  • Russian: злить (zlitʹ) — to anger, annoy
  • Russian: раздражать (razdražatʹ) — to anger, annoy
  • Spanish: encolerizar — to anger, annoy
  • Spanish: irritar — to anger, annoy
  • Spanish: sacar de quicio — to anger, annoy
  • Spanish: sulfurar — to anger, annoy
  • Spanish: encabronar — to anger, annoy
  • Tagalog: mang-inis — to anger, annoy
  • Tagalog: inisin — to anger, annoy
  • Turkish: kızdırmak — to anger, annoy
  • Finnish: ärsyttää — to incite
  • Hungarian: izgat — to incite
  • Portuguese: incitar — to incite
  • Spanish: sacar de quicio — to incite