Is there a stronger word than “incite”?

Question

I am looking for a word that conveys the strongest level of inciting someone, pushing someone to do something:

Their boss VERB'd them to work as hard as possible.

The strongest I can think of is spur, is there something better?

Answer 1

I can think of inflame, stir up, galvanize, goad, or rouse.

It can be useful to also read the note reported by the NOAD.

The best way to start a riot is to incite one, which means to urge or stimulate to action, either in a favorable or an unfavorable sense. If you instigate an action, however, it implies that you are responsible for initiating it and that the purpose is probably a negative or evil one (the man who instigated the assassination plot).
Foment suggests agitation or incitement over an extended period of time (foment a discussion; foment the rebellion that leads to war). An instigator, in other words, is someone who initiates the idea, while a fomenter is someone who keeps it alive. You can provoke a riot in the same way that you instigate one, but the emphasis here is on spontaneity rather than on conscious design (her statement provoked an outcry from animal rights activists).
To arouse is to awaken a feeling or elicit a response (my presence in the junkyard aroused suspicion), or to open people's eyes to a situation (we attempted to arouse public awareness).
But once you've aroused people, you may have to exhort them, meaning to urge or persuade them, by appealing to their sympathy or conscience, to take constructive action.

Answer 2

Exhorted might be the word you seek.

Instructed, impelled, ...

Compelled and forced suggest more than mere words..

Answer 3

My choice would be 'coerced' for that particular sentence. As in 'Foxconn workers were coerced into working beyond their physical and mental limits.'

Answer 4

I would use prompt, or induce (in the case where the incitation succeeded).