as in rebel
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Recent Examples of agent provocateur
There is the buffer, the confidante, the agent provocateur.
—
George Caulkin, New York Times, 7 July 2025
But De Niro’s attempt at playing agent provocateur stumbled badly: His decision to stand outside the New York Trump trial cost the actor his credibility.
—Armond White, National Review, 5 June 2024
Members of the crowd accused Epps of being an agent provocateur, which later helped spur the conspiracy theories about him.
—Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2024
The Globoplay Original, produced by the company’s journalism arm, examines the lives of those adjacent to the faction through interviews with the contingents’ defenders, defectors, sociologists and an agent provocateur that develops carefully-orchestrated chaos.
—Holly Jones, Variety, 20 Mar. 2023
Anyone who maligns the sultan is immediately thought to be an agent provocateur working for the sultan, and probably is.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2022
The last dispatch from the alien/agent provocateur known as Greg Tate beamed out from perhaps his most inconspicuous dwelling.
—Tirhakah Love, Vulture, 14 Dec. 2021
At the same time, agents provocateurs played a significant role in the turbulence.
—Adam Hochschild, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2019
George Caulkin, New York Times, 7 July 2025
But De Niro’s attempt at playing agent provocateur stumbled badly: His decision to stand outside the New York Trump trial cost the actor his credibility.
—Armond White, National Review, 5 June 2024
Members of the crowd accused Epps of being an agent provocateur, which later helped spur the conspiracy theories about him.
—Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2024
The Globoplay Original, produced by the company’s journalism arm, examines the lives of those adjacent to the faction through interviews with the contingents’ defenders, defectors, sociologists and an agent provocateur that develops carefully-orchestrated chaos.
—Holly Jones, Variety, 20 Mar. 2023
Anyone who maligns the sultan is immediately thought to be an agent provocateur working for the sultan, and probably is.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2022
The last dispatch from the alien/agent provocateur known as Greg Tate beamed out from perhaps his most inconspicuous dwelling.
—Tirhakah Love, Vulture, 14 Dec. 2021
At the same time, agents provocateurs played a significant role in the turbulence.
—Adam Hochschild, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agent provocateur
Noun
-
The rebels, led by Deepak Rauniyar and Binod Paudel, fired off a scathing letter to the Academy demanding a full investigation and threatening to blow up Nepal’s Oscar dreams entirely.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
27 Sep. 2025
-
Directed by the iconic Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another stars DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, a vigilante and former rebel who is on the run from Penn's Officer Steven Lockjaw.—
Rebecca Aizin,
PEOPLE,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Farage, the forever insurgent, has always been able to avoid the choices that come with power.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
21 Sep. 2025
-
The film was released to relatively little publicity by Angel Studios, the insurgent independent production house behind surprise, Christian box office hits like Sound of Freedom and The Chosen.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In Bangladesh, the demise of Hasina’s regime has emboldened religious extremists.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
-
Lone offenders, according to the document, remain the top threat, but there are also concerns about domestic extremists and foreign terror organizations.—
Luke Barr,
ABC News,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
That shouldn’t be a problem, as Taylor would never be mistaken for a troublemaker.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
12 Sep. 2025
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Across China, tens of thousands of people tagged as troublemakers like the Yangs are trapped in a digital cage, barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the world’s largest digital surveillance apparatus.—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Creating the technology for revolutionaries operating in an amorphous present, such as the scanner device, was another fascinating challenge.—
Pat Saperstein,
Variety,
27 Sep. 2025
-
The question for me was always how much Bob changed over those 16 years, from young revolutionary to burnout.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
27 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The Falcon's upper stage booster was on track to deploy the broadband internet relays (Starlink Group 11-20) about an hour after leaving the ground.—
Robert Z. Pearlman,
Space.com,
29 Sep. 2025
-
However, recent research suggests that standing might not be the health booster many hoped for.—
Jack McNamara,
CNN Money,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The clearest example of this is Live Nation, the largest concert promoter on the planet, which is betting biggest on Latin America.—
Alex Ashley,
Rolling Stone,
25 Sep. 2025
-
The conventional wisdom, shared by event promoters and many at the university, held that the 1920s-era facility just wasn’t equipped for the demands of a big concert production.—
Brian McCollum,
Freep.com,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
By long-standing practice, the most senior apostle then becomes the next church president.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
-
In addition to the Jesus tower, another would be dedicated to Mary, with bluish granite ornaments meant to evoke her iconic cloak; there would also be spires for each of the four Evangelists and the twelve apostles.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Agent provocateur.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agent%20provocateur. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.
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