agent provocateur

noun

Definition of agent provocateurnext
as in rebel

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of agent provocateur The Italian Marco Materazzi was an agent provocateur, tossing out words about Zidane’s family like a grenade set to spew forth a red mist. — Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 31 May 2026 And for good reason; Villanueva spent his four years in office more as an agent provocateur than a public safety official. — The Editorial Board, Daily News, 13 May 2026 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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agent provocateur
  1. rebel
  2. insurgent
  3. extremist
  4. troublemaker
  5. revolutionary
  6. booster
  7. promoter
  8. apostle
Noun
  • The war next door United Nations experts have documented Rwandan military support for M23 rebels, which have seized territory in eastern DRC.
    — Nimi Princewill, CNN Money, 22 Oct. 2026
  • But the rebels also have an array of relatively cheap drones, including weapons supplied by Iran, and locally made copies of Iranian attack drones.
    — Frank Andrews, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of rebel
Noun
  • Khalilzad on Friday wrote on X that there had been reports of Pakistan arming Afghans to fight the Taliban inside Afghanistan and of the Pakistani military recruiting Afghans to fight anti-Pakistan insurgents.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • President Emmanuel Macron has been the primary target of scorn following nationwide riots that overtook Paris and other cities, but the insurgent National Rally does not want to let mainstream conservatives off the hook.
    — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of insurgent
Noun
  • Outraged Jewish groups are now demanding organizers answer for bankrolling violent extremists.
    — Staff, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The blueprint included the recruitment of mercenaries and exploiting the grievances of disaffected citizens, from religious fanatics and extremists to soccer fans.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of extremist
Noun
  • That leaves it in a diagnostic gray zone, not quite a harmless freeloader and not always a troublemaker either.
    — Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Netanyahu in the past has attributed the violence to a small number of troublemakers.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of troublemaker
Noun
  • Danny Trejo has played a Mexican revolutionary, a Mexican cop, a Mexican cartel assassin and, of course, a Mexican ex-con who kills bad guys with a machete.
    — Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026
  • But, even then, American socialists walked a fine line—they were considered too radical for the mainstream and a mere bourgeois affectation by committed class revolutionaries.
    — Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of revolutionary
Noun
  • The flight will carry 36 Amazon Leo satellites aboard an Ariane 64, the rocket’s four-booster configuration.
    — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The booster, meanwhile, reoriented for its descent back to Earth.
    — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of booster
Noun
  • The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Why concert tickets keep getting more expensive Artists, promoters, venues, and ticketing platforms all take a cut of each ticket.
    — James LaForge, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of promoter
Noun
  • And now the apostles of effective altruism, with their concern for protecting as many people as possible, are in Thiel’s sights.
    — David Gibson, The Verge, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Despite the church’s efforts, male Catholic bishops whose identities have not been publicly revealed later ordained two of the women as bishops with the aim of preserving the line of succession from Jesus’ apostles to present-day bishops.
    — Jonathan Bullington, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of apostle

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Cite this Entry

“Agent provocateur.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agent%20provocateur. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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