provocateur
Americannoun
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provocateurs
plural
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a person who provokes trouble, causes dissension, or the like; agitator.
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(italics) agent provocateur.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of provocateur
1915–20; < French < Latin prōvocātor challenger, appellant, equivalent to provocā ( re ) to provoke + -tor -tor
Explanation
A provocateur is a person who deliberately does things to provoke a specific reaction, argument, or change. For example, in art or cinema, a provocateur might create shocking works to challenge social norms. In police work, provocateur is short for agent provocateur, meaning "a person hired to make trouble." The provocateur could be an undercover police officer trying to catch a known criminal in the act of committing a crime so that officers can swoop in and make an arrest. At home, a provocateur is that family member who deliberately starts a heated debate at the dinner table every Thanksgiving. A political provocateur may try to discredit the opposing side by provoking someone into saying or doing something controversial.
Vocabulary lists containing provocateur
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The self-styled provocateur has called himself the "most fabulous supervillain on the internet".
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
But so did L.A. writer, artist and provocateur Eve Babitz.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
An opinion poll last week showed One Nation, for decades a fringe group led by provocateur Pauline Hanson, had become the country's most popular party.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
Reed, who died at his home in New York Tuesday at 87, was a provocateur, a bomb thrower.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
Coleman is a classicist who studied at Oxford and a former consultant for McKinsey & Company who clearly enjoys his role as a provocateur.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Israel Gantz, head of an umbrella settler group, blamed recent incidents on "groups of provocateurs and terrorists" but implicitly acknowledged some Israelis' responsibility.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
The prime minister added that he had instructed Israeli authorities to "deport the provocateurs as soon as possible".
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
Colleges have cited property damage, outside provocateurs, antisemitic expressions or just failures to heed warnings as reasons to clear encampments and arrest students.
From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2024
But it rewards the attention of a committed voyeur, which all proper cineastes and many of our best provocateurs are anyway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2023
Their role was to act as agents provocateurs, and they would attempt to push us around, take our food, and inhibit any political discussions we tried to have.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
