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In "provocateur," a word borrowed directly from French, one sees the English verb "provoke." Both "provoke" and "provocateur" derive from Latin provocare, meaning "to call forth." Why do we say "provocateur" for one who incites another to action, instead of simply "provoker"? Perhaps it's because of "agent provocateur," a term of French origin that literally means "provoking agent." Both "agent provocateur" and the shortened "provocateur" can refer to someone (such as an undercover police officer or a political operative) whose job is to incite people to break the law so that they can be arrested, but only "provocateur" is used in English with the more general sense of "one who provokes."
Examples of provocateur in a Sentence
Chris Megerian, Chicago Tribune, 6 June 2025
Of all the larger-than-life agitators and provocateurs to come out of Flint, Michigan, in the past few years, he’s become one of the best rappers of the bunch.
—Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 6 June 2025
In his latest crime thriller, New York federal prosecutor Nora Carleton builds a case against an online provocateur whose vitriolic podcasts may be inspiring physical attacks against ideological foes.
—Monitor Staff, Christian Science Monitor, 22 May 2025
College campuses, after all, cannot and should not be anarchic free speech zones where any maniacal provocateur like Milo Yiannopoulos can come and deliver an outrageous address designed to do nothing other than generate controversy without any pushback.
—David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for provocateur
Cite this Entry
“Provocateur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/provocateur. Accessed 15 Jun. 2025.
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