as in torturers
a person who causes trouble; a person who creates problems or difficulties involving other people
He had the reputation of being a troublemaker in high school.
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Recent Examples of troublemakers
The book looked at the world of a swath of Irish women emigrants who were deemed troublemakers, highlighting that for a period of time, Irish women outnumbered Irish men in prison.
—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
30 June 2026
Meanwhile, younger brother Sam begins to suspect that Michael's new friends are not merely troublemakers, but vampires.
—
Dave Quinn,
PEOPLE,
27 Apr. 2026
They may be passed up for promotions or labeled as troublemakers.
—
Alene Tchekmedyian,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
The Hooligan Who Rewrote the Rules Kea parrots are already famous for being troublemakers.
—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
22 Apr. 2026
My great-grandfather said that the next day, the whole town celebrated because the troublemakers were gone.
—
Masha Hamilton,
Longreads,
19 Feb. 2026
Iris Apatow and Costa D'Angelo are the latest troublemakers to stir the pot at Baird.
—
Allison Degrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
14 Jan. 2026
Across China, tens of thousands of people tagged as troublemakers like the Yangs are trapped in a digital cage, barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the world’s largest digital surveillance apparatus.
—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
9 Sep. 2025
In a recent study published in Nature Aging, researchers at UC San Francisco sought to identify the molecular troublemakers that cause our brains to age prematurely.
—
Pranjal Malewar,
New Atlas,
2 Sep. 2025
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
30 June 2026
Meanwhile, younger brother Sam begins to suspect that Michael's new friends are not merely troublemakers, but vampires.
—
Dave Quinn,
PEOPLE,
27 Apr. 2026
They may be passed up for promotions or labeled as troublemakers.
—
Alene Tchekmedyian,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
The Hooligan Who Rewrote the Rules Kea parrots are already famous for being troublemakers.
—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
22 Apr. 2026
My great-grandfather said that the next day, the whole town celebrated because the troublemakers were gone.
—
Masha Hamilton,
Longreads,
19 Feb. 2026
Iris Apatow and Costa D'Angelo are the latest troublemakers to stir the pot at Baird.
—
Allison Degrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
14 Jan. 2026
Across China, tens of thousands of people tagged as troublemakers like the Yangs are trapped in a digital cage, barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the world’s largest digital surveillance apparatus.
—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
9 Sep. 2025
In a recent study published in Nature Aging, researchers at UC San Francisco sought to identify the molecular troublemakers that cause our brains to age prematurely.
—
Pranjal Malewar,
New Atlas,
2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for troublemakers
Noun
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Red is immediately abducted, cut open in an ambulance, and injected with pain-magnifying drugs by his torturers, while Liz accidentally murders the mysterious man surveilling her next door.
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Aaron escapes his torturers, first by rooting himself in the town’s only movie theater open to Black people, and then by lying about his age and enlisting in the Navy at 16.
Noun
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Still, the star did not name her harassers.
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Most harassers do not harass others in front of someone else.
Noun
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They are all stuffed into selections from the adults-only section of a Spirit Halloween store and made to perform amateur strip teases for their fellow Islanders — all strapped to heart-rate monitors — to see who can raise whose heart rate the most.
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Rhys teases of the finale’s contents.
Noun
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The majority of speakers at Tuesday’s board meeting urged the board not to allow online agitators to dictate personnel decisions.
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In recent years, agitators have fueled anti-immigration street violence following crimes committed by, or falsely reported to have been committed by, immigrants.
Cite this Entry
“Troublemakers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/troublemakers. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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