as in rebel
a person who stirs up public feelings especially of discontent
a political agitator who led an unsuccessful revolt against the government
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Recent Examples of agitator
Some agitators—likely external infiltrators—pushed the protesters forward, tearing down barricades as chants intensified.
—
Sonal Nain, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
Charlie Kirk, a far-right agitator and political activist, was shot and killed on Wednesday according to video of the incident and confirmation by Andrew Kolvet, Kirk’s spokesman.
—Mikelle Street, Them., 10 Sep. 2025
That might be an agitator for some players.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 22 Aug. 2025
The Sweet family defended themselves by firing shots and killing one of the agitators, which led to a murder trial.
—Dana Afana, Freep.com, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for agitator
Sonal Nain, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
Charlie Kirk, a far-right agitator and political activist, was shot and killed on Wednesday according to video of the incident and confirmation by Andrew Kolvet, Kirk’s spokesman.
—Mikelle Street, Them., 10 Sep. 2025
That might be an agitator for some players.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 22 Aug. 2025
The Sweet family defended themselves by firing shots and killing one of the agitators, which led to a murder trial.
—Dana Afana, Freep.com, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for agitator
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agitator
Noun
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The rebels, led by Deepak Rauniyar and Binod Paudel, fired off a scathing letter to the Academy demanding a full investigation and threatening to blow up Nepal’s Oscar dreams entirely.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
27 Sep. 2025
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Directed by the iconic Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another stars DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, a vigilante and former rebel who is on the run from Penn's Officer Steven Lockjaw.—
Rebecca Aizin,
PEOPLE,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has to approve many of those mergers—and Trump stacked the FCC with his supporters.—
Lizz Winstead,
Time,
27 Sep. 2025
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Kneeling was widely used by protesters and supporters after Floyd’s death to signal sympathy with the Black Lives Matter movement and a call for racial justice.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
27 Sep. 2025
Noun
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America seems unlikely to be made great again by the demagogues of white nationalism, who cannot help but channel fury over irreversible decline at those who have been working hard, through either literal or spiritual immigration, to become American.—
Pankaj Mishra,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
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Our shrinking attention span has left us vulnerable to demagogues and misinformation from every direction.—
Doug McIntyre,
Oc Register,
31 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The clearest firebrand of the group is Suzanne (Mia Barron), whose patronizing politeness will eventually give way to rage once her views are challenged.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
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That includes collaborations in-the-round with Denver’s Nathaniel Rateliff and DeVotchKa, as well as indie firebrands The Flaming Lips, in addition to standard orchestral fare and familiar classical-crossover acts such as Andrea Bocelli and Lindsey Stirling.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The clearest example of this is Live Nation, the largest concert promoter on the planet, which is betting biggest on Latin America.—
Alex Ashley,
Rolling Stone,
25 Sep. 2025
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The conventional wisdom, shared by event promoters and many at the university, held that the 1920s-era facility just wasn’t equipped for the demands of a big concert production.—
Brian McCollum,
Freep.com,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Eide and other proponents of expanding hospitalization believe the administration could do even more.—
Nathaniel Meyersohn,
CNN Money,
30 Sep. 2025
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Closure of the bike path to undertake this project has drawn opposition from cycling proponents and West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
28 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The most sensational collision of the FCC, the radio networks, and notions of the public interest was inspired not by Orson Welles but by another multihyphenate auteur, the screen goddess and provocateur Mae West.—
Thomas Doherty,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Sep. 2025
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But former friends have reportedly said Jahn was not overtly political, describing him instead as an online provocateur who said things for shock value.—
Alia Shoaib,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Farage, the forever insurgent, has always been able to avoid the choices that come with power.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
21 Sep. 2025
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The film was released to relatively little publicity by Angel Studios, the insurgent independent production house behind surprise, Christian box office hits like Sound of Freedom and The Chosen.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Agitator.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agitator. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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