The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Provoke \Pro*voke"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Provoked; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Provoking.] [F. provoquer, L. provocare to call
   forth; pro forth + vocare to call, fr. vox, vocis, voice,
   cry, call. See Voice.]
   To call forth; to call into being or action; esp., to incense
   to action, a faculty or passion, as love, hate, or ambition;
   hence, commonly, to incite, as a person, to action by a
   challenge, by taunts, or by defiance; to exasperate; to
   irritate; to offend intolerably; to cause to retaliate.
   [1913 Webster]

         Obey his voice, provoke him not.         --Ex. xxiii.
                                                  21.
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         Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. --Eph.
                                                  vi. 4.
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         Such acts
         Of contumacy will provoke the Highest
         To make death in us live.                --Milton.
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         Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust? --Gray.
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         To the poet the meaning is what he pleases to make it,
         what it provokes in his own soul.        -- J.
                                                  Burroughs.
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   Syn: To irritate; arouse; stir up; awake; excite; incite;
        anger. See Irritate.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Provoking \Pro*vok"ing\, a.
   Having the power or quality of exciting resentment; tending
   to awaken passion or vexation; as, provoking words or
   treatment. -- Pro*vok"ing*ly, adv.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

provoking
    adj 1: causing or tending to cause anger or resentment; "a
           provoking delay at the airport" [syn: agitative,
           agitating, provoking]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

113 Moby Thesaurus words for "provoking":
   aggravating, agitating, alluring, annoying, ardent, bothering,
   bothersome, breathtaking, burning, challenging, charged,
   cliff-hanging, disquieting, distracting, disturbing, electric,
   emphatic, encouraging, energizing, enthusiastic, exasperating,
   exciting, exhilarating, fervent, fiery, galling, galvanic,
   galvanizing, glowing, harassing, harassment, heady,
   heart-expanding, heart-stirring, heart-swelling, heart-thrilling,
   impassioned, importunate, importune, impressive, inflammatory,
   interesting, intoxicating, inviting, irking, irksome, irritating,
   jarring, jolting, juicy, lively, maddening, mind-blowing, moving,
   overcoming, overmastering, overpowering, overwhelming, passionate,
   perturbing, pesky, pestering, pestiferous, pestilent, pestilential,
   piquant, plaguesome, plaguey, plaguing, prompting, provocation,
   provocative, racy, ravishing, readable, rich, rousing,
   soul-stirring, spicy, spirit-stirring, stimulant, stimulating,
   stimulative, stirring, striking, succulent, suspenseful,
   suspensive, tantalizing, teasing, telling, thought-challenging,
   thought-inspiring, thought-provoking, thrilling, thrilly, tickling,
   tiresome, titillating, tormenting, troublesome, troubling,
   unsettling, upsetting, urgent, vehement, vexation, vexatious,
   vexing, warm, wearisome, worrisome, worrying