How to Use provocation in a Sentence

provocation

noun

• With hardly any provocation, the crowd began to chant.
• He can turn violent at the least provocation.
• Her calmness in the face of repeated provocations impressed her friends.
• But the movie is meant as a provocation.
  — Rachel Handler, Vulture, 14 May 2026
• That is the charm, and frankly, the provocation.
  — Daniel Fusch, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2025
• But there is more than prurience or even provocation at work here.
  — Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2023
• Its state run news agency said the drills were a provocation.
  — James Osborne, Houston Chronicle, 4 June 2018
• That great unknown alone makes the provocation worth the hype.
  — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2023
• Cool things down; be aware that tempers could flare up at the least provocation.
  — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, 9 Oct. 2020
• And the provocations seem to be working.
  — Julie Beck, The Atlantic, 18 Nov. 2025
• The label name is a clear provocation to those who see jazz as extinct.
  — Sheldon Pearce, The New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2021
• This show can feel like a provocation, a dare to hate Carmichael, then love him and back again.
  — Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 13 May 2024
• To do so, for artists like Braque and Höch, was a means of provocation.
  — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 16 Aug. 2024
• Then horror struck, when a man pulled a gun on them without provocation and shots rang out.
  — Marlene Lenthang, NBC News, 30 Nov. 2023
• The sky-blue limousine parked outside the door was a provocation.
  — Michael Hofmann, Harper's Magazine, 27 Oct. 2020
• Those who shorted the provocation phase got crushed by the pivot.
  — Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
• Online mobs spring up at the slightest provocation, and teenagers have all the time in the world.
  — Bijan Stephen, The Verge, 24 May 2018
• This was nothing but a provocation.
  — Rachel Wolf, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2025
• His words, even when read, are provocations to argue, disagree and think.
  — Alan M. Dershowitz, New York Times, 30 Oct. 2017
• The young man was dark-complexioned and thin and seemed steady, and ready to take on any provocation.
  — Alaa Al Aswany, Harper's Magazine, 22 June 2021
• For leaders, the provocation is clear.
  — John Winsor, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
• Here there’s no warning, no provocation.
  — Geraldo Cadava, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2025
• The protection squad will no doubt be seen as a provocation by Arabs in town.
  — Amy Kellogg, Fox News, 14 May 2021
• The gunman walked up on the deputies and opened fire without warning or provocation.
  — CBS News, 14 Sep. 2020
• It was delivered with a smile—but heard as a provocation by millions.
  — Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
• And without provocation, shot Ricky Wiltrout in the back of the head.
  — CBS News, 3 July 2019
• In this moment, the idea that nice girls win feels less like a provocation and more like a correction.
  — Kelly Ehlers, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2026
• Most tennis players were too savvy to fall victim to their cheap provocation.
  — Beth Herman, Boston Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
• This proved too much even for a party that had endured months of Frick’s provocations.
  — Literary Hub, 17 Nov. 2025
• Keeping the base open could hardly be called a provocation, given it’s been around for years.
  — William Lloyd Stearman, WSJ, 19 May 2021