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."
a calculating provocateur, she has made a career out of controversy for its own sake
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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 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 Kirk was a provocateur who at times made statements that some called racist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant and transphobic.—Jonathan J. Cooper, Twin Cities, 22 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for provocateur
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