agent provocateur

Example Sentences

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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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agent provocateur
Noun
  • Alcalá has pleaded guilty to collaborating with Colombia’s FARC rebels.
    Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2025
  • The rebels also cited the need to take out the massive scam operations as justification for their offensive – which analysts say China likely greenlit.
    Helen Regan, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Jahmai Jones’ two-run single in the top of the fifth proved the difference, punching Detroit’s ticket to the playoffs and ensuring the Tigers would go into Game 162 with a chance to claw back the AL Central title from the insurgent Cleveland Guardians on the final day of the regular season.
    Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 27 Sep. 2025
  • Labels matter Security analysts say the situation in Haiti continues to defy clear international legal characterization and the choice of labels – crisis, armed conflict, gangs, terrorist groups, armed groups, criminal groups, insurgents – carries significant legal and humanitarian implications.
    Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 26 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Nor did Trump mention that attacks by right-wing extremists are more frequent and deadly.
    Laura Yuen, Mercury News, 24 Sep. 2025
  • In Bangladesh, the demise of Hasina’s regime has emboldened religious extremists.
    Kapil Komireddi, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Sometimes there’s a kid who is labeled a ‘troublemaker’ who just needs to be heard.
    Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2025
  • That shouldn’t be a problem, as Taylor would never be mistaken for a troublemaker.
    Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Yet through Bob, Anderson finds his way into this story in a way that feels self-reflective and in conversation with a whole generation of coulda been revolutionaries.
    Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Assata Shakur, the Black revolutionary and godmother to Tupac Shakur, has died, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported last Friday, September 26.
    Walden Green, Pitchfork, 29 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The 1960 Cal Poly team was inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2006, the same year a memorial was created next to the football stadium that has 18 copper pillars, one for each Cal Poly player, the student manager and the booster.
    Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 5 Oct. 2025
  • Currently, the company’s heavy-lift launch vehicle, New Glenn, is still preparing for its second launch; the craft has also not yet achieved a successful booster landing.
    Senior Reporter, PC Magazine, 3 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Together, O’Neill and Alicia navigate a rabbit hole of deranged folk singers, psychotic cops, boxing promoters, line dancing enthusiasts, and worst of all, podcasters, the truth blurs, bodies stack, and the nature of their search comes into question.
    Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2025
  • American baseball promoters were quick to see the potential of the Japanese market, touring the country as early as 1908.
    Jared Bahir Browsh, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Nelson served as an apostle beginning in 1984 and became the church's leader in 2018.
    Mitch Picasso, FOXNews.com, 28 Sep. 2025
  • By long-standing practice, the most senior apostle then becomes the next church president.
    Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Agent provocateur.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agent%20provocateur. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.

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