PROVOCATEURS Synonyms: 47 Similar and Opposite Words

provocateurs

noun

plural of provocateur

as in agitators

a person who stirs up public feelings especially of discontent a calculating provocateur, she has made a career out of controversy for its own sake

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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 provocateurs Alliances with independents and provocateurs can bring younger crowds to the traditional news fold in an era when such viewership is not guaranteed. —

Brian Steinberg, Variety, 20 Apr. 2026 For 15 years as a member of French psych pop provocateurs La Femme, Magnée and band members were walking billboards for retro chic fashion. —

Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 14 Apr. 2026 The character of McCrum’s images is also quite different than that of the ones in the fictional Brainrot, whose sleek, sensual images recall the highly polished work of provocateurs like Torbjørn Rødland and Heji Shin. —

Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 13 Apr. 2026 Lost in all the heated rhetoric is the fact that so much of this turmoil would have been avoided if federal detainers were simply honored within local jails and state prisons — away from the public and professional provocateurs who are drawn to uncivil cultural conflict like bees to honey. —

Bob Ehrlich, Baltimore Sun, 10 Mar. 2026 The pair of social media provocateurs post their bizarre arguments and interactions with everyday New Yorkers, which usually end with them being chased down the street and out of bodegas and residential buildings. —

Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 27 Feb. 2026 There were right-wing provocateurs coming to town. —

Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 6 Feb. 2026 Third parties, which are usually based on fringe views or a sense of grievance, are vehicles for ideologues, provocateurs and contrarians whose appeal is as limited as their problem-solving skills. —

Newsweek Contributors, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025 Charlie Kirk was one of the right's preeminent provocateurs, often delving into contentious territory. —

Zac Anderson, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for provocateurs

Noun

The Lightning were without Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli, two of the main agitators from the first matchup.

— Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2026
Columbia students, along with outside agitators, broke into an academic building and temporarily detained the janitors inside.

— Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2026