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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Recent Examples of provocateurs
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
Dynevor, meanwhile, finds texture in a villainous role that rightly reminds us how petty personal grievances (on campus, no less) may well be the driving force behind the most outspoken political provocateurs.
—Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 29 Oct. 2025
Charlie Kirk was one of the right's preeminent provocateurs, often delving into contentious territory.
—Zac Anderson, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
So instead of making these obvious points to union provocateurs such as Davis Gates, our political leaders treat her with kid gloves.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2025
Newsweek Contributors, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025
Dynevor, meanwhile, finds texture in a villainous role that rightly reminds us how petty personal grievances (on campus, no less) may well be the driving force behind the most outspoken political provocateurs.
—Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 29 Oct. 2025
Charlie Kirk was one of the right's preeminent provocateurs, often delving into contentious territory.
—Zac Anderson, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
So instead of making these obvious points to union provocateurs such as Davis Gates, our political leaders treat her with kid gloves.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for provocateurs
Noun
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This has unfolded in a year that saw widespread anti-Israel campus demonstrations that prompted clashes between police and pro-Palestinian agitators as well as congressional hearings.—
Michael Ruiz,
FOXNews.com,
20 Dec. 2025
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Republican leadership and voters followed suit, and fake video clips proliferated whenever agitators saw an opportunity to sow division.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
14 Dec. 2025
Noun
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By providing only air cover for the rebels, our intervention left the situation on the ground to the local competing forces, tribes and militias, which were divided then and remain divided to this day.—
Thomas L. Friedman,
Mercury News,
6 Jan. 2026
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He's accused of running a network that partnered with violent groups including Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In the eighties, Petro was a member of the M-19, urban insurgents who caught the world’s attention by taking the American Ambassador and more than a dozen other foreign diplomats hostage for two months.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
15 Jan. 2026
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Syria’s al-Assad went down after Israel gutted Lebanese Hezbollah, following which Turkish aided and directed insurgents representing a minority of the country marched into Damascus.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Believing the claims of technology promoters that one or another nirvana is just around the corner is a mug’s game.—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Jan. 2026
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Versions of this story have been told before, but what distinguishes Love Saves the Day are the more than 300 interviews Lawrence conducted with promoters, partiers, and legendary DJs such as Frankie Knuckles.—
Andrew Holter,
The Atlantic,
31 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Julia Mejia arguably received the most favorable committee chairmanship of Worrell’s supporters, with education.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
13 Jan. 2026
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As Venezuelans have slowly emerged from their homes to buy groceries, see family, and go back to work, many are leaving their phones at home, concerned about their devices being searched by armed supporters of the government known as colectivos.—
Brian Bennett,
Time,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In turn, the erosion of trust has weakened the social contract that sustains representative government, leaving democracies more vulnerable to populist demagogues, institutional paralysis, and the gradual normalization of authoritarian alternatives.—
NIC CHEESEMAN,
Foreign Affairs,
16 Dec. 2025
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Studies show that as a result of these cycles, Americans on the left and right have developed an exaggerated sense of the other side’s hostility, exactly as some political demagogues intend.—
Adam G. Klein,
The Conversation,
12 Nov. 2025
Noun
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But proponents of the industry claim that the environmental costs still net out as a plus since the space data centers take processing off the fossil-fuel-burning grid.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
7 Jan. 2026
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One of the biggest proponents of the capri resurgence, the supermodel has been making a stylish case for cropped pants since last summer—and her latest iteration takes the divisive Noughties silhouette into Italian girl style territory.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Snowstorms are the most frequent instigators of massive flight delays and cancellations at the area's big airports.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
10 Dec. 2025
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The team found that artificial sweetener Stevia, as well as compounds released by our own gut cells, were the main instigators in activating these gut phages.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Provocateurs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/provocateurs. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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