triggering 1 of 2

adjective

as in provoking

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triggering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of trigger
as in activating
to cause to function mold triggers my allergies

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 triggering
Verb
Parton died after a brief battle with cancer, with her death triggering an outpouring of grief, from fellow Hollywood stars to everyday fans who attended makeshift memorials. — Edward Segarra, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026 But Antonelli is set to start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid as Mercedes plans to fit his car with a fresh engine, triggering a penalty. — Luke Smith, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026 The deal marks the end of Arte Moreno’s turbulent ownership of the Angels, with the news triggering shock followed by celebration among beleaguered fans whose team owns baseball’s longest playoff drought. — Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2026 Those margins raise the prospect that similar language could be inserted into any further budget deals without triggering opposition. — John Timmer, ArsTechnica, 2 Sep. 2026 Others worry about false positives triggering disruptive alerts. — Victoria Song, The Verge, 2 Sep. 2026 Driven by artificial intelligence demand, memory chips are in short supply, pushing prices steadily higher and triggering explosive profit growth for Micron. — CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026 However, if a person tries to inject the drug, naloxone blocks buprenorphine’s opioid effects, triggering withdrawal in a person with opioid dependence. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026 The area is also home to large-scale industrial agriculture, with the resulting effluents triggering oxygen depletion and massive fish death annually. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for triggering
  1. provoking
  2. activating
  3. inflammatory
  4. sparking
  5. explosive
  6. driving
  7. incendiary
  8. generating
Adjective
  • The Best Books of the Year (So Far) Our editors and critics choose the most captivating, notable, brilliant, surprising, absorbing, weird, thought-provoking, and talked-about books.
    — Hannah Jocelyn, New Yorker, 24 June 2026
  • Chiarella has come up with an ingenious premise that is as twisted as it is thought-provoking.
    — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 18 June 2026
Definition of provoking
Verb
  • This has included pumping water from the Sea of Galilee, activating groundwater wells and using national water reserves.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The Athletic reported on Sunday that Mateta was in dispute with Palace over the final year of his contract, which is set to expire next summer, with Palace activating an option to extend his deal by a further year last December.
    — David Ornstein, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of activating
Adjective
  • Fine made headlines with inflammatory comments about Armenians (Bilzerian is Armenian-American) in addition to his rhetoric on Muslims.
    — Joseph Strauss, Sun Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2026
  • After winning historic Latino support in 2024, Trump now faces collapsing approval as mass deportations, economic stagnation and inflammatory messaging like the bus graphic threaten GOP fortunes in the 2026 midterms.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of inflammatory
Verb
  • Asia’s rapid data center buildout is sparking local pushback, as governments’ urge to capture value in the AI investment boom runs into constituents’ environmental and health concerns.
    — Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Three baby goats at a North Carolina petting zoo tested positive for rabies, sparking a statewide search for people who interacted with the animals.
    — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of sparking
Adjective
  • In June, the FBI arrested five suspects in an alleged plot to target the Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House South Lawn with explosive-laden drones.
    — Seth G. Jones, Foreign Affairs, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Instead, the explosive Coleman Report unleashed a 60-year debate over race, resources, and what education in America is actually for.
    — Rund Abdelfatah, NPR, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of explosive
Verb
  • Economists can debate whether a top-15 economy should morph itself into a giant leveraged bet on the AI trade, one now driving growth to new highs rather than simply riding alongside it.
    — William Pesek, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Still, several financial analysts have concluded that the prediction frenzy, with its sleek mobile apps and easy-to-understand odds, are driving the stock drops.
    — Marshall Cohen, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of driving
Adjective
  • Earlier Thursday in Munich, several incendiary devices were thrown at a construction site near a building where several companies, including from the defense sector, are located, the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office said.
    — Claudia Ciobanu, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • For May, a marketplace for monetizing secrets and destroying trust was only one component of a larger machine of institutional destruction, an incendiary device that would melt governments into liquid crypto-anarchy.
    — Finn Brunton, Harpers Magazine, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of incendiary
Verb
  • Antares plans to begin generating electricity in 2027, with reactor installations targeted for 2028.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2026
  • That work is then transferred to the second film and produces reversible changes in the crystal structure, generating cold.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of generating

Browse Nearby Words

trigger-happy
triggering
triggerman
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Triggering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/triggering. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

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