as in proponent
a person who stirs up public feelings especially of discontent
an instigator who always managed to be innocently standing by once the fighting began
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Recent Examples of instigator
Jia is critical of this, making references to the 2008 Beijing Olympics as an instigator to rapid growth across the country.
—
Zach Dennis, Charlotte Observer, 11 Sep. 2025
Naming an interstate war based on the state in which the war is fought – while omitting the name of outside instigators – implies the culpability of that state.
—Esther Brito Ruiz, The Conversation, 5 Sep. 2025
One of the main instigators, Starboard Value, is back for more.
—Jordan Novet, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2025
Interlune’s instigator and intellectual godfather is an 89-year-old former astronaut, Harrison Schmitt, who serves as executive chairman.
—Jeremy Bogaisky, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
And the main instigators are men.
—Kamala Thiagarajan, NPR, 31 Aug. 2025
Lee, seeking to move past a military takeover attempt by his predecessor, positioned himself as a facilitator of dialogue rather than an instigator of confrontation.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Aug. 2025
Dana being one of them, Robby obviously being one, and Santos being, in some way, the instigator or the catalyst for that whole story to fall apart.
—EW.com, 21 Aug. 2025
But that would do more harm, Nicole Lee said, disproportionately affecting young people of color and wrongfully assuming that youths are the main instigators of violence.
—Terry Tang, Denver Post, 17 Aug. 2025
Zach Dennis, Charlotte Observer, 11 Sep. 2025
Naming an interstate war based on the state in which the war is fought – while omitting the name of outside instigators – implies the culpability of that state.
—Esther Brito Ruiz, The Conversation, 5 Sep. 2025
One of the main instigators, Starboard Value, is back for more.
—Jordan Novet, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2025
Interlune’s instigator and intellectual godfather is an 89-year-old former astronaut, Harrison Schmitt, who serves as executive chairman.
—Jeremy Bogaisky, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
And the main instigators are men.
—Kamala Thiagarajan, NPR, 31 Aug. 2025
Lee, seeking to move past a military takeover attempt by his predecessor, positioned himself as a facilitator of dialogue rather than an instigator of confrontation.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Aug. 2025
Dana being one of them, Robby obviously being one, and Santos being, in some way, the instigator or the catalyst for that whole story to fall apart.
—EW.com, 21 Aug. 2025
But that would do more harm, Nicole Lee said, disproportionately affecting young people of color and wrongfully assuming that youths are the main instigators of violence.
—Terry Tang, Denver Post, 17 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for instigator
Noun
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Eide and other proponents of expanding hospitalization believe the administration could do even more.—
Nathaniel Meyersohn,
CNN Money,
30 Sep. 2025
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Closure of the bike path to undertake this project has drawn opposition from cycling proponents and West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
28 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has to approve many of those mergers—and Trump stacked the FCC with his supporters.—
Lizz Winstead,
Time,
27 Sep. 2025
-
Kneeling was widely used by protesters and supporters after Floyd’s death to signal sympathy with the Black Lives Matter movement and a call for racial justice.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
27 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The clearest example of this is Live Nation, the largest concert promoter on the planet, which is betting biggest on Latin America.—
Alex Ashley,
Rolling Stone,
25 Sep. 2025
-
The conventional wisdom, shared by event promoters and many at the university, held that the 1920s-era facility just wasn’t equipped for the demands of a big concert production.—
Brian McCollum,
Freep.com,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The rebels, led by Deepak Rauniyar and Binod Paudel, fired off a scathing letter to the Academy demanding a full investigation and threatening to blow up Nepal’s Oscar dreams entirely.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
27 Sep. 2025
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Directed by the iconic Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another stars DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, a vigilante and former rebel who is on the run from Penn's Officer Steven Lockjaw.—
Rebecca Aizin,
PEOPLE,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The new partnership between farmers and advocates will let agriculture prosper while protecting one of Indiana's largest watersheds.—
Karl Schneider,
IndyStar,
25 Sep. 2025
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Newsom has been under pressure in recent years to adopt AI guardrails by advocates worried about the technology’s impact on unemployment by automating jobs and upending creative and media industries via its ability to generate new pictures, audio and other media using existing data.—
Lia Russell,
Sacbee.com,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Country music’s premier agitator, Gavin Adcock, is also on the lineup.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
25 Sep. 2025
-
But while that may serve Natthaphong’s interests to appear as the chief agitator for reform, losing his military foil could conversely prove problematic.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Local media reports state that over 3,000 people marched on the bridge while two demonstrators hung themselves on either side of the bridge.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
22 Sep. 2025
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Under that contract, Ursa Major is serving as lead integrator for a tactical flight demonstrator that will showcase Draper’s use for hypersonic applications.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The clearest firebrand of the group is Suzanne (Mia Barron), whose patronizing politeness will eventually give way to rage once her views are challenged.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
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That includes collaborations in-the-round with Denver’s Nathaniel Rateliff and DeVotchKa, as well as indie firebrands The Flaming Lips, in addition to standard orchestral fare and familiar classical-crossover acts such as Andrea Bocelli and Lindsey Stirling.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Instigator.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/instigator. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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