How to Use instigate in a Sentence

instigate

verb

• There has been an increase in the amount of violence instigated by gangs.
• The government has instigated an investigation into the cause of the accident.
• In the midst of it all, one new brand is here to instigate change from its founding.
  — Brooke Bobb, Vogue, 9 July 2020
• Bunny would instigate it by doing a binky in front of my dog.
  — Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 4 Mar. 2025
• Ishida believed the dog may have tried to instigate a fight with the cat, which fought back.
  — Nicole Blanchard, idahostatesman, 21 May 2018
• And on the day, Mike instigated it.
  — Josh Wigler, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
• The data also tracks when these changes happened and who may have helped instigate them.
  — Kathy Stephenson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 29 Sep. 2020
• After instigating the pile on last time, Vance did not speak at all this time.
  — Zac Anderson, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2025
• Some of these bans have been instigated by a single parental complaint.
  — Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani, The New Republic, 21 Sep. 2023
• Von then explains that drinking instigates the desire to do coke.
  — Brady Brickner-Wood, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2024
• Opponents will sure try to instigate, and the Huskies don’t need the wrong kind of fight right now.
  — Dom Amore, courant.com, 11 Jan. 2018
• And the way to defeat fringe elements who instigate and launch primaries is to fight them.
  — Charlie Dent, CNN, 1 May 2022
• Regardless of who instigated the heist, the theft of these books is a real blow.
  — Swapna Krishna, Smithsonian, 14 Feb. 2017
• After all, those customers may perhaps be the party that can instigate the most change in the end.
  — Yael Grauer, Ars Technica, 9 Feb. 2020
• At the same time stress can instigate bad behaviors such as smoking and drinking.
  — Tom Siegfried, Discover Magazine, 18 Sep. 2018
• To their minds, the ice age could have instigated the explosion of life that followed.
  — Laura Poppick july 22, Literary Hub, 22 July 2025
• Rather than instigating a change, Palace instead held firm.
  — Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 28 May 2026
• The players aren’t the only ones instigating these moves.
  — David Eckert, Austin American Statesman, 9 Jan. 2026
• The suspect appeared to be instigating a fight inside the park.
  — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 17 Mar. 2025
• Batshuayi instigated the move with a good pass for Schuerrle.
  — USA TODAY, 10 Feb. 2018
• One key scene between the two men involves a piece of music, instigated by Strong.
  — Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 25 Oct. 2025
• The man who instigated the war and who is the chief obstacle to peace is Vladimir Putin.
  — Rich Lowry, National Review, 20 May 2025
• The group instigated a fight, after which the boy shot into the crowd, Hildebrand said.
  — Max Levy, Denver Post, 6 June 2025
• The challenge is to instigate a party but make sure that people are invited to the party.
  — Vulture, 26 Apr. 2022
• Durant instigating the on-court back and forth pretty much killed any faint hopes of an All-Star truce.
  — Marcus Thompson Ii, The Mercury News, 20 Feb. 2017
• The plot was instigated by court lady Suirei, with whom Maomao has crossed paths a few times in the palace.
  — Kayti Burt, Time, 2 Apr. 2025
• The attacks have instigated not just flight restrictions, but closures of swaths of airspace.
  — Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2026
• What ignites or instigates that response, outside of being done with the machine?
  — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025
• During a fight, one of the mothers of one of the females can be seen instigating the fight and kicking one of the females in the head.
  — Washington Post, 31 May 2017
• So Biden’s federal government has to instigate, to work the gaps.
  — Adam Rogers, Wired, 20 Jan. 2021