provocative
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
- half-provocative adjective
- nonprovocative adjective
- nonprovocatively adverb
- nonprovocativeness noun
- provocatively adverb
- provocativeness noun
- quasi-provocative adjective
- quasi-provocatively adverb
- unprovocative adjective
- unprovocatively adverb
- unprovocativeness noun
Etymology
Origin of provocative
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English word from Late Latin word prōvocātīvus. See provocation, -ive
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.
There, we see Ms. Smith experimenting with poetry and music and Mapplethorpe emerging as a provocative visual artist, each tapping into the electric scene that was downtown Manhattan in the late 1960s and ’70s.
Such claims may be provocative even to readers favorably inclined to the book’s other arguments.
In her post, Madonna revealed that she had always been a fan of Emin's "extremely personal and provocative work".
From BBC
I like being provocative, I like being controversial.
From Los Angeles Times
Ye, the provocative rapper formerly known as Kanye West, explains himself once again — this time in a full-page ad in Monday’s issue of the Wall Street Journal.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions 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.
