Provoke vs Coax - What's the difference?
provoke | coax |
to cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
* Bible, Eph. vi. 4
to bring about a reaction.
* J. Burroughs
*{{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=November 12
, author=
, title=International friendly: England 1-0 Spain
, work=BBC Sport
(obsolete) To appeal.
(obsolete) To fondle, kid, pet, tease.
To wheedle, persuade (a person, organisation, animal etc.) gradually or by use of flattery to do something.
* , chapter=6
, title= * 12 July 2012 , Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift
To carefully manipulate into a particular desired state, situation or position.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
, title= (obsolete) A simpleton; a dupe.
In obsolete terms the difference between provoke and coax
is that provoke is to appeal while coax is a simpleton; a dupe.As verbs the difference between provoke and coax
is that provoke is to cause someone to become annoyed or angry while coax is to fondle, kid, pet, tease.As a noun coax is
a simpleton; a dupe.provoke
English
Verb
(provok)- Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.
- Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.
- To the poet the meaning is what he pleases to make it, what it provokes in his own soul.
citation, page= , passage=Spain were provoked into a response and Villa almost provided a swift equaliser when he rounded Hart but found the angle too acute and could only hit the side-netting.}}
- (Dryden)
Synonyms
* (bring about a reaction) bring about, discompose, egg on, engender, evoke, grill, incite, induce, inflame, instigate, invoke, rouse, set off, stir up, whip upDerived terms
* provocation * provocativecoax
English
Etymology 1
originally (1586) in the slang phrase to make a coax of , from earlier noun coax, cox, cokes "fool, simpleton", itself of obscure origin, perhaps related to cock (male bird, pert boy). The modern spelling is from 1706.Verb
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.}}
- On paper, Continental Drift boasts a jaw-dropping voice cast, including but not limited to Jennifer Lopez, Patrick Stewart, Wanda Sykes, Aziz Ansari, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Nicki Minaj, Drake, and Alan Tudyk. But in practice, the overstuffed ensemble leaves the cast no room to distinguish themselves, and directors Steve Martino and Michael Thurmeier don’t seem interested in coaxing performances that might render their money stars less identifiable.
Geothermal Energy, volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.}}
Synonyms
* (persuade gradually) cajole, persuade, wheedle * (manipulate carefully into position) easeNoun
(es)- (Beaumont and Fletcher)