agent provocateur

American  

[ey-juhnt pruh-vok-uh-tur, a-zhahn praw-vaw-ka-tœr] / ˈeɪ dʒənt prəˌvɒk əˈtɜr, a ʒɑ̃ prɔ vɔ kaˈtœr /

noun

agents provocateurs plural

1. a secret agent hired to incite suspected persons to some illegal action, outbreak, etc., that will make them liable to punishment.

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agent provocateur British  

/ aʒɑ̃ prɔvɔkatœr /

noun

1. a secret agent employed to provoke suspected persons to commit illegal acts and so be discredited or liable to punishment

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• agents provocateurs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of agent provocateur

1875–80; < French: inciting agent; see provocation, -eur

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

agent provocateur

Reckzeh had been set up as a spy and agent provocateur by the Gestapo: Thadden had been fooled by his elaborately constructed cover story.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025

"I experienced at first hand a rather pathetic attempt by an agent provocateur to put me in a great deal of trouble," he said.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2023

Appearing on Carlson's show on December 6, Blake notes, McBride "proceeded to highlight one specific supposed agent provocateur, who stood out because he was wearing red face paint."

From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2021

“One of the hopes here is that this series can be an agent provocateur to ask tough questions about what happened,” said Alex Gibney, who created the series with Wright and directed the first episode.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 28, 2018

With him, the composer as agent provocateur had arrived.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall