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

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

The inciting moment comes when Austin and Ashley witness a violent argument between Josh and Lindsay. — Ryan Brennan april 16, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2026

While one of the inciting events for establishing the Code of Credits happened to be a crowd of producers onstage at the Oscars, the goal never was to exclude anyone from the profession. — Katie Campione, Deadline, 24 Mar. 2026

Verb

On August 5, Nelson Mandela was arrested in South Africa for inciting workers to strike, and Marilyn Monroe was found dead at her home in Brentwood, California. — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026

The same forces that produce earthquakes are also what led gold to form in the Sierra foothills, inciting the state's famous rush. — Rong-Gong Lin Ii Los Angeles Times, Arkansas Online, 2 Aug. 2026

The Church of Scientology has accused Remini of inciting violence against members of the church. — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 24 July 2026

That trust begins with one of the most devastating inciting incidents in recent genre memory. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 24 July 2026

The inciting incident for that arrest was captured on video that TMZ published in March, and showed Paul hurling metal bar stools toward Mortensen. — Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 16 July 2026

The scandal rocked the Cry Babies, prompting some to give the singer a new nickname, Felony Martinez, while inciting the majority to pile in against Timothy and dismiss her story as contemptible lies. — Matt Thompson, SPIN, 13 July 2026

Staff members of the satirical magazine Leman are on trial on charges of inciting hatred over a cartoon published last year that features the Prophet Mohammed and Moses. — ABC News, 2 July 2026

Salonen guided the Colburn Orchestra with flexible authority, imposing order or inciting wildness as the moment required. — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 29 June 2026