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

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Recent Examples of provocateurs 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 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

Columbia students, along with outside agitators, broke into an academic building and temporarily detained the janitors inside.

— Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2026
Christian women wishing to reunite their families without calling for Hitler’s demise, or the release of all Jews, were harder for the regime to portray as political enemies or criminal agitators.

— Danielle Wirsansky, The Conversation, 10 Mar. 2026