provocateur

[pruh-vok-uh-tur, -toor, praw-vaw-ka-tœr]

noun

plural

provocateurs 

1. a person who provokes trouble, causes dissension, or the like; agitator.

2. (italics),  agent provocateur.

provocateur

/ prəˌvɒkəˈtɜː /

noun

1. a person who deliberately behaves controversially in order to provoke argument or other strong reactions

Word History and Origins

Origin of provocateur¹

1915–20; < French < Latin prōvocātor challenger, appellant, equivalent to provocā ( re ) to provoke + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

So do Internet provocateurs, represented here by Ann Coulter, pretty much playing herself and proving that it isn’t an act.

Read more on Salon

Avtandil Imnadze, 85, who was a political prisoner in the Soviet Union, said "the attempt to storm the presidential palace was the work of provocateurs."

Read more on Barron's

In the event of any violence, whether from protesters or agent provocateurs, the president will doubtless seize on it to expand his power.

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Human-right groups accuse the government of hiring provocateurs—known locally as goons—to infiltrate protests and discredit demonstrators to justify the violent reaction.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Noem was accompanied by right-wing YouTube star Benny Johnson, one of the biggest provocateurs promoting the conservative media doom loop, who was first made infamous after being fired from BuzzFeed News for plagiarism.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• anarchist 
• demagogue 
• firebrand 
• malcontent 
• propagandist 
• protestor www.thesaurus.com
• radical 
• troublemaker 
• zealot