Synonyms of fomenting

fomenting 1 of 2

adjective

as in provoking

Related Words

• provoking
• inciting
• inflammatory
• instigating
• incendiary
• agitating
• provocative
• subversive
• exciting
• violent
• reactionary
• wild
• rabble-rousing
• revolutionary
• extreme
• radical
• extremist
• ultra
• fanatic
• rabid
• revolutionist

Dissimilar Words

• moderate
• conservative
• temperate
• traditional
• conventional
• progressive
• liberal
• orthodox
• middle-of-the-road
• nonrevolutionary
• unrevolutionary

fomenting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of foment

as in promoting

to bring (something volatile or intense) into being

John Adams's wife, Abigail, told him that if women were not remembered by the new American government, they would "foment a Rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice or Representation"

Synonyms & Similar Words

• provoking
• promoting
• raising
• triggering
• inciting
• instigating
• encouraging
• abetting
• fermenting
• brewing
• cultivating
• stimulating
• picking
• stirring (up)
• whipping (up)
• fostering
• furthering
• setting in motion
• sowing
• advancing
• nurturing
• detonating
• forwarding
• inflaming
• motivating
• nourishing
• inspiring
• galvanizing
• rousing
• activating
• setting off
• exciting
• energizing
• setting
• enlivening
• quickening
• firing
• invigorating
• vitalizing
• jazzing (up)
• pepping (up)
• livening (up)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• regulating
• inhibiting
• restraining
• holding
• curbing
• checking
• discouraging
• constraining
• taming
• settling
• subduing
• quieting
• bridling
• soothing
• calming
• reining (in)
• allaying
• stilling
• tranquilizing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of fomenting

Verb

In recent years, Russia has used NIS as a geopolitical tool to fund a range of malign influence operations in Serbia, from fomenting protests to fueling anti-American propaganda. — Ilan Berman, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026

The role of social media in fomenting a more violent political discourse comes up time and time again – referenced in parliamentary reports and by countless MPs. — Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 14 July 2026

And in this rote, dutiful steadiness, I was struck by the patient sincerity of it all—and by a sense that these believers were already fomenting, in admittedly small numbers, the kind of unity that Esperanto’s skeptics say the language could never help facilitate. — Katie Thornton, Harpers Magazine, 26 May 2026

Sometimes, the frame is transfixed by haunting, practically subliminal changes fomenting on a subconscious level, as Dua is shaken from within, and the remarkable Matoshi doles out nuggets of recognizable emotion from beneath her rock-hard exterior. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 13 May 2026

Duterte joined Marcos’ ticket to secure a landslide victory in the 2022 national elections, but the two have since become political rivals, fomenting a feud that has thrown the country into political and economic turmoil. — Chad De Guzman, Time, 11 May 2026

The strategy was highly effective, causing power rationing in the capital and fomenting civil chaos. — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 10 May 2026

But the war that’s threatening global energy supplies, upending geopolitics, fomenting a food crisis and likely to curb global growth long after any ceasefire is the Iran war. — Diane Brady, Fortune, 14 Apr. 2026

Many cops and union officials blamed de Blasio’s support for Black Lives Matter and other protesters against police brutality for fomenting anti-cop sentiment that culminated in the slayings. — Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 25 Feb. 2026