incite

[in-sahyt]

verb (used with object)

incited, inciting 

1. to stir, encourage, or urge on; stimulate or prompt to action.

   to incite a crowd to riot.

   Synonyms: induce, fire, exhort, arouse, spur, goad, provoke, instigate
   Antonyms: discourage

incite

/ ɪnˈsaɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to stir up or provoke to action

Other Word Forms

• incitable adjective
• incitant adjective
• incitation noun
• inciter noun
• incitingly adverb
• reincite verb (used with object)
• unincited adjective
• incitement noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of incite¹

First recorded in 1475–85; from Latin incitāre, from in- in- ² + citāre “to move repeatedly, set in motion, summon” ( cite ¹ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of incite¹

C15: from Latin incitāre, from _in- ² + citāre to excite

Synonym Study

Incite, rouse, provoke, inflame are verbs meaning to goad or inspire an individual or a group to take some action or to express some feeling. Incite and rouse are similar in that, although they can imply in some contexts abrasive or inflammatory arousal of violent or uncontrolled behavior, neither necessarily does so. Incite means simply to induce activity, of whatever kind: incited to greater effort by encouragement; incited to riot. Rouse has an underlying sense of awakening: to rouse the apathetic soldiers to a determination to win; to rouse the inattentive public to an awareness of the danger. Provoke implies a sense of challenge or irritation along with arousal and often suggests a resultant anger or violence: provoked by scathing references to his accomplishments; to provoke a wave of resentment. Inflame, with its root sense to set afire, implies a resultant intensity and passion: to inflame a mob by fiery speeches; He was inflamed to rage by constant frustration.

Example Sentences

The allegation is that these praised what was happening and incited her legion of social media followers, some 100,000 at the time, to press on with the mayhem.

Read more on BBC

In April, a Siberian court found a real-estate agent guilty of inciting hatred and enmity by urging women to marry soldiers for “self-interested reasons.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The designation allows him to treat the victims as enemy combatants in a war that does not exist but that he increasingly seems to want to incite.

Read more on Salon

“They’re trying to incite violence. It’s not funny. You don’t mock a president who has already had two failed assassination attempts on his life,” Johnson said.

Read more on Salon

"The Commissioner has been clear he doesn't believe officers should be policing toxic culture war debates, with current laws and rules on inciting violence online leaving them in an impossible position," the spokesperson said.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• abet 
• agitate 
• arouse 
• encourage 
• exhort 
• foment 
• inflame 
• inspire 
• instigate 
• motivate 
• prompt 
• provoke 
• rouse 
• set off 
• spur 
• trigger 
• urge 
• whip up