agitate

They are notorious goons, despised virtually everywhere for their ability to agitate, aggrieve and annoy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026

Little things are starting to agitate me every day.

From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025

The city also is looking at installing a 6- to 8-foot-tall fence along the river to address complaints that the passing bikers will agitate the dogs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2023

It appeared to agitate Cannon, who questioned the prosecution about why it was being brought up for the first time at the hearing.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2023

Black civil rights leaders continued to agitate, but the apartheid machinery ground on unheeding.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

And this is kind of a shame, because the story agitates the brain far more than it does the stomach.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025

Conversely, when researchers injected the rats with a substance that agitates the immune system, the inflammatory cytokine levels rapidly shot up.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2024

Tinseltown, it seems, is in the midst of an AI boom — even as its creative class agitates for limits on how that technology gets deployed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2023

According to the advocacy group DogsBite, which agitates for municipalities to ban "dangerous breeds," more than 900 cities in the United States currently have laws on the books banning pit bulls.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2021

“The sight of a wound or scar always agitates and sickens me,” she said.

From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin

We have agitated for paid parental leave, universal childcare, better public schools, child allowances, and other help for struggling parents.

From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026

“I get a little agitated and the pace is really, really different.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

While Starmer floundered in the polls, Burnham agitated for change.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

They know their cognition will continue to fade, and they might live for years in an agitated, delusional state where they’ll need round-the-clock care from people they don’t recognize.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

Gray rose to his haunches, agitated, and shared the behavior he had seen: A human turning away a starving neighbor, acting as if there were no food in his larder when it was full.

From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker

“We do not know the answer, but we have seen them take this approach in other situations when agitating for change,” Moskow said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

Wilson has been agitating for a board overhaul, and The Wall Street Journal has reported that Elliott was looking to help the retailer find a new leader.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

Landlocked Ethiopia, home to around 130 million people and one of Africa’s strongest economies, has been agitating for sea access.

From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026

Buck Turgidson, one of the film’s most memorable characters, while agitating the president in the war room for a first strike against the Soviet Union.

From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2026

Her scalp tingled, as if the thoughts in her brain were agitating to get out: a statue...Athena...Greek and Roman, her nightmares, and her argument with her mom.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan