instigator

Rarely in·sti·gant

[in-sti-gey-ter]

noun

1. a person or thing that provokes or incites an action or course: Plays to be performed at the festival focus on a theme of how youth can be the instigators of positive change.

   Peaceful protesters outnumbered the violent instigators, and they kept the demonstration from becoming a riot.

   Plays to be performed at the festival focus on a theme of how youth can be the instigators of positive change.

Word History and Origins

Origin of instigator¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin instigātor, equivalent to instigāt(us) + -or -or ² ( def. ); instigate ( def. )

Example Sentences

Crockett called Greene an “instigator” who can’t stand a taste of her own medicine.

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Banjo and string player Matt Worley was “Saving Grace’s” musical instigator, approaching Plant at a pub.

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But whether it is an unexpected jump in claims costs or lower premiums that are the instigator, the upshot is that auto-insurance underwriting might now be past its peak profitability.

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The Federal Protective Service detained an elderly man “after he asked the agents if he could just come up to the gate and rattle it so the antifa instigators would leave him and others alone.”

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Sorry: That’s the Stephen Miller seat and only one chief instigator at a time, please.

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Related Words

• ringleader