Dictionary

roil en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• [ˈɹʷɔɪl]
• /ˈɹɔɪl/
• (US) audio

Etymology

Origin uncertain. Possibly from French or Middle French rouiller (“to rust, make muddy”), from Old French rouil (“mud, rust”), from Vulgar Latin *robicula, from Latin robigo (“rust, blight”)

Meanings

1. (of a fluid, qualifier:especially a liquid, transitive) To render turbid by stirring up the dregs or sediment of.
   • to roil wine, cider, etc, in casks or bottles
   • dust storms roiling the skies
   • to roil a spring
   • [of St Leonards in East Sussex in 1947] A sort of roiling mist seemed year-round to hold the town in its grip. 2015, David Hare, chapter 1, in The Blue Touch Paper:
2. (of a person or group of people, transitive) To annoy; to make angry; to throw into discord.
   • […] and amid Musk’s sale of 10% of his Tesla stock, a process that roiled markets, cost him billions and should produce enough tax revenue to fund the Commerce Department for a year. 2021 December 13, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time, archived from the original on 13 Dec 2021:
   • That his friends should believe it, was what roiled him exceedingly. 1890, Roger North, Lives of the Norths:
3. (intransitive) To bubble, seethe.
   • By noon, Brian's stomach had begun to roil and knot. He hurried down to the bathroom at the end of the hall in his stocking feet, closed the door, and vomited into the toilet bowl as quietly as he could. 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:
   • These videos are the stone truth. Quaking proof of insult, seasick funerals. Livestreamed or uploaded, or suppressed then suspiciously unearthed as found footage. Last week, the archive grew by two, and now the nation’s roiling. 2020 June 3, Wesley Morris, “The Videos That Rocked America. The Song That Knows Our Rage.”, in New York Times:
   • Throughout the 1500s, the populace roiled over a constellation of grievances of which the forest emerged as a key focal point. The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood. 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion:
4. (intransitive) To romp or tumble.
   • The finale was a romp in which the entire troupe burst out of the bouldering cave and roiled along the walls. 1991, Climbing - Issues 127-129, page 34:
   • A school let out, teens in their miraculously white, pressed shirts and blue pants and skirts, surely having come that morning from crowded, dirt-floored huts without water. They roiled over the sidewalk and flowed around me, a sweaty, old-lady tourist in her long-sleeved, 50 SPF shirt, pants, and pastel hat – a lump in their path. 2020, Richard Blanco, Caridad Moro, Nikki Moustaki, Grabbed, page 58:
   • When the children returned from school, Pip sat among them as they did their homework. He peeled children off the floor when they roiled in frustration and plucked cats from the furniture. 2019, Vita Murrow, High-Five to the Hero, page 78:
   • As artists they were exploratory; in Rose Colored Dance they performed in playful embrace, smelled each other's feet, and roiled in mischief, rolling on top of each other. 2017, Sondra Fraleigh, Tamah Nakamura, Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo:

Forms

Deriveds

unroiled · roily · roilsome · roiler

Synonyms

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

Translations (61)

nl storen (to annoy) · ru взмути́ть (render turbid) · hu megbolygat (render turbid) · ja 濁らせる (render turbid) · hy թափահարել (render turbid) · nl zieden (to bubble, seethe) · pt turvar (render turbid) · pl wzburzyć (to annoy) · fi ärsyttää (to annoy) · ro supăra (to annoy) · pt irritar (to annoy) · nl borrelen (to bubble, seethe) · pt turbar (render turbid) · ru бурли́ть (to bubble, seethe) · ru взболта́ть (render turbid) · hu zákányosít (render turbid) · bg мътя (render turbid) · hy ջղայնացնել (to annoy) · ru взба́лтывать (render turbid) · cs rozbouřit (to annoy) · fr énerver (to annoy) · pt importunar (to annoy) · it rendere torbido (render turbid) · ro enerva (to annoy) · fr irriter (to annoy) · hy պղտորել (render turbid) · sv irritera (to annoy) · cs rozvířit (render turbid) · fr fâcher (to annoy) · bg размътвам (render turbid) · fr troubler (render turbid) · sv reta upp (to annoy) · hu felkavar (render turbid) · cmn 徹底攪拌 /彻底搅拌 (render turbid) · fi samentaa (render turbid) · bg дразня (to annoy) · vi khuấy (render turbid) · hy խառնակել (render turbid) · ro irita (to annoy) · pl mącić (render turbid) · ru раздража́ть (to annoy) · es enfurecer (to annoy) · ru серди́ть (to annoy) · fi hämmentää (render turbid) · cs rozvířit (to annoy) · it intorbidare (render turbid) · cs zvířit (render turbid) · pt incomodar (to annoy) · pl zmącić (render turbid) · cmn 惹怒 (to annoy) · hy գրգռել (to annoy) · de trüben (render turbid) · nl vertroebelen (render turbid) · es enturbiar (render turbid) · de ärgern (to annoy) · ru замути́ть (render turbid) · nl ergeren (to annoy) · ru мути́ть (render turbid) · es molestar (to annoy) · vi chọc tức (to annoy) · nl kwaad maken (to annoy)