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:
But so did L.A. writer, artist and provocateur Eve Babitz.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn is willfully and delightfully unpredictable: part showman, part provocateur.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Philips is one of India's best-known - and most polarising - doctors online: admired by supporters as a fearless champion of evidence-based medicine, reviled by critics as an attention-seeking provocateur.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
He was not a provocateur like Jack Johnson, Louis’s only predecessor as a black American heavyweight champion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Some provocateur was behind it all, and the children could hardly be blamed—at least, not entirely.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
She alleged there were provocateurs among the protesters, smashing up stores and banks, to discredit the demonstrations.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
It also said the flotilla was serving "professional provocateurs".
From Barron's ● May 1, 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
The government also infiltrated spies and agents provocateurs into the organization.
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.
