instigate
verb
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Instigate is often used as a synonym of incite (as in "hoodlums instigating violence"), but the two words differ slightly in their overall usage. Incite usually stresses an act of stirring something up that one did not necessarily initiate ("the court's decision incited riots"). Instigate implies responsibility for initiating or encouraging someone else's action and usually suggests dubious or underhanded intent ("he was charged with instigating a conspiracy"). Another similar word, foment, implies causing something by means of persistent goading ("the leader's speeches fomented a rebellion"). Deriving from the past participle of the Latin verb instigare, instigate stepped into English in the 16th century, after incite and ahead of foment.
Synonyms
Examples of instigate in a Sentence
USA TODAY, 11 Apr. 2024
During the later decades of the last century, economic free-fall and repression crippled much of the region, some of it instigated by the C.I.A., with trade agreements like NAFTA decimating many small, rural businesses, then globalization wreaking further havoc.
—Michael Kimmelman Clement Pascal, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024
The person fans don’t like, or the person instigating drama?
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 25 Mar. 2024
Ironically, the sting was instigated by the Assembly minority leader, Pat Nolan of Glendale, who convinced the Reagan administration that Brown was a ripe target.
—George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
In 1587, Mary was executed, and in 1590 James instigated a witch trial against a healer named Agnes Sampson, accusing her of trying to murder him and his Danish bride by causing storms to sink their ships.
—Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2024
While Fox Nation offers replays of a few Fox News opinion programs, the platform has moved away from hard-core political content such as a past series from former host Tucker Carlson that suggested the federal government was involved in instigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the Capitol.
—Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024
Altman returned in triumph, the instigating board members were asked to resign, and the whole incident was perceived, rightly or wrongly, as a blow to the doomer cause.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024
The voters claimed that Trump instigated the Jan. 6 attack as part of his efforts to subvert the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election, and therefore is disqualified from holding public office.
—Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 8 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'instigate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Instigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/instigate. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
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