INSTIGATOR Synonyms: 47 Similar and Opposite Words

instigator

noun

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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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 instigator Lifeson said that a chance meeting with Paul McCartney during a tribute concert for Taylor Hawkins back in 2022 was the instigator, when Macca urged them to get over their mean, mean pride. —

Devon Ivie, Vulture, 4 May 2026 All of that would be intriguing even if the founders of Deep Voodoo weren’t South Park instigators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. —

Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 31 Mar. 2026 Hawkins joked that Heckel is usually the instigator of any trash talk between them, but there hasn’t been much jawing ahead of Monday’s second-round NCAA Tournament game. —

Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 22 Mar. 2026 In 2001, the United States and its allies stormed into Afghanistan, aiming to destroy the Taliban and round up the instigators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. —

Nolan Finley, Twin Cities, 6 Mar. 2026 An instigator all night long for the Chargers, the 5-foot-3 Dutkanych finally took in the scene around her before reaching up to softly rub a growing lump on her forehead, reddened by the ice. —

Rick Armstrong, Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026 Officers later reviewed security camera footage and identified Murff as the instigator of the altercation. —

Rebecca Noel, Charlotte Observer, 19 Feb. 2026 While some see Nelly as an empathetic and motherly caretaker, others view her as a manipulative, calculating instigator who shapes the narrative to justify her own actions. —

Megan McCluskey, Time, 13 Feb. 2026 Little has been accomplished, and Labour’s woes seem likely to benefit the Reform Party, a new nationalist, populist outfit led by the Brexit instigator Nigel Farage. —

Idrees Kahloon, The Atlantic, 8 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for instigator

Noun

Many proponents expressed frustration with the school board and administration as multiyear efforts to bring Arabic language instruction to District 230 appeared to stall, culminating with the recent resignation of the only Arab American member of the school board.

— Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 3 May 2026
These excess profit taxes are not always as efficacious as proponents hope for.

— Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 2 May 2026