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In "provocateur," a word borrowed directly from French, one sees the English verb "provoke." Both "provoke" and "provocateur" derive from Latin provocare, meaning "to call forth." Why do we say "provocateur" for one who incites another to action, instead of simply "provoker"? Perhaps it's because of "agent provocateur," a term of French origin that literally means "provoking agent." Both "agent provocateur" and the shortened "provocateur" can refer to someone (such as an undercover police officer or a political operative) whose job is to incite people to break the law so that they can be arrested, but only "provocateur" is used in English with the more general sense of "one who provokes."
Examples of provocateur in a Sentence
Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 22 Oct. 2025
By focusing so much on the Jewish people and the Jewish state, these provocateurs have a much broader goal in mind than merely ostracizing America's small Jewish minority.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
The Supreme Court won’t help conservative provocateur Laura Loomer take on social media companies and their advertisers who have blocked her posts.
—Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 6 Oct. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for provocateur
Cite this Entry
“Provocateur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/provocateur. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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