Synonyms of inciting

inciting 1 of 2

adjective

as in provocative

serving or likely to arouse a strong reaction

a deliberately inciting comment questioning someone's manhood started the brawl

Synonyms & Similar Words

• provocative
• charged
• provoking
• motivating
• motivational
• exciting
• stimulating
• instigating
• motivative
• triggering
• inflammatory
• piquing
• instigative
• edgy
• inducing
• explosive
• inspiring
• incendiary
• activating
• inspirational
• teasing
• fiery
• energizing
• aggravating
• upsetting
• annoying
• taunting
• irritating
• maddening
• quickening
• vitalizing
• galvanizing
• jeering
• vexatious
• exasperating
• vexing
• bothersome
• irksome
• enraging
• angering
• pesky
• galling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• noninflammatory
• subduing

inciting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of incite

1

as in provoking

to bring (something volatile or intense) into being

the rock band's failure to show up incited a riot, as the crowd had waited for hours

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

2

as in encouraging

to rouse to strong feeling or action

the demagogue's fiery rant incited the crowd to riot

Synonyms & Similar Words

• provoking
• encouraging
• stimulating
• stirring
• arousing
• sparking
• instigating
• inspiring
• motivating
• moving
• inducing
• triggering
• exciting
• driving
• firing (up)
• igniting
• revving (up)
• piquing
• inflaming
• impassioning
• fomenting
• activating
• fanning
• galvanizing
• motiving
• angering
• building a fire under
• energizing
• abetting
• kindling
• animating
• bothering
• enraging
• quickening
• taunting
• fermenting
• vitalizing
• setting off
• teasing
• upsetting
• jeering
• raising
• keying (up)
• whipping (up)
• aggravating
• pumping up
• getting
• maddening
• irritating
• annoying
• exasperating
• vexing
• galling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• soothing
• calming
• subduing
• appeasing
• placating
• pacifying
• tranquilizing
• mollifying

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of inciting

Adjective

The show will begin with Pam grieving the loss of young Jason, who supposedly drowned in the town lake — the inciting incident of the franchise. — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026

Morocco arrested multiple people who circulated the inciting statements, Interior Ministry spokesperson Rachid El Khalfi said. — Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 15 Aug. 2026

Societies throughout history have punished language deemed blasphemous, seditious, inciting or slanderous. — Paul Quigley, The Conversation, 13 July 2026

Not an inciting event for troll armadas to threaten the people involved. — Brian Hamilton, New York Times, 2 July 2026

Does the opening episode need an inciting incident within the first few minutes to draw in audiences? — Michael Schneider, Variety, 22 June 2026

Although more research is needed, GLP-1 drugs trigger metabolic pathways that could be important in regulating inflammation, which is known to be an inciting factor in many different cancers. — Omer Awan, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026

What was the setting and the all-important inciting incident? — Literary Hub, 11 June 2026

Of course, the pivotal thing was to create an inciting incident that propels the story without clunky exposition. — Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 23 May 2026

Verb

Michelle Remembers The satanic panic’s inciting incident is often identified as the 1980 publication of the book Michelle Remembers, written by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder with his former patient (and future wife) Michelle Smith. — Jordana Rosenfeld, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026

He was sentenced to six years for inciting terrorism and extremism. — Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2026

And then all of a sudden this inciting event happens, and they’re thrown, unprepared, into this world. — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2026

Critics have accused his party, La France Insoumise, (LFI), of seeking to use the unrest to score points in the presidential campaign and of inciting violence. — Greg Norman-Diamond, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026

Her claim of doors being opened, meanwhile, is an act of fear-inciting misinformation, for the doors have been open for a long time to trans women, with no pattern of damage done. — Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026

Reportedly, the nation has framed it as a necessary step to counter growing counterspace threats from Russia and China, while Beijing has warned against inciting a space arms race. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 15 Sep. 2026

Former grand mufti Ahmad Badreddine Hassoun, an Assad loyalist who was vocally in support of the government's policies, was convicted of inciting violence and justifying murder. — ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026