irritate vs provoke

irritate and provoke both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
irritate	No	No	Yes	No
provoke	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, provoke is a hyponym of irritate; that is, provoke is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than irritate:

irritate (verb)	provoke (verb)
excite to an abnormal condition, or chafe or inflame	provide the needed stimulus for
excite to some characteristic action or condition, such as motion, contraction, or nervous impulse, by the application of a stimulus	evoke or provoke to appear or occur
cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations	call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
	annoy continually or chronically