PROVOCATEURS Synonyms: 47 Similar and Opposite Words

provocateurs

noun

plural of provocateur

as in agitators

a person who stirs up public feelings especially of discontent a calculating provocateur, she has made a career out of controversy for its own sake

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of provocateurs Feigenbaum offered a more cautious interpretation, describing some of the violent perpetrators as fringe provocateurs who exploit broader demonstrations without necessarily directing them. — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026 Hilton’s edgy attitude and pugnacious put-downs would place him right at home among the network’s collection of trolls, provocateurs and Democrat-bashing gargoyles. — Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026 The faux outrage was egged on by professional right-wing provocateurs like Robby Starbuck, Benny Johnson and a leading investor in MAGA darling Steak n’ Shake. — Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026 Global organizations navigate a complex landscape, prompting boards to evolve beyond traditional oversight into strategic provocateurs. — Anna Marks, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026 Alliances with independents and provocateurs can bring younger crowds to the traditional news fold in an era when such viewership is not guaranteed. — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 20 Apr. 2026 For 15 years as a member of French psych pop provocateurs La Femme, Magnée and band members were walking billboards for retro chic fashion. — Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 14 Apr. 2026 The character of McCrum’s images is also quite different than that of the ones in the fictional Brainrot, whose sleek, sensual images recall the highly polished work of provocateurs like Torbjørn Rødland and Heji Shin. — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 13 Apr. 2026 Lost in all the heated rhetoric is the fact that so much of this turmoil would have been avoided if federal detainers were simply honored within local jails and state prisons — away from the public and professional provocateurs who are drawn to uncivil cultural conflict like bees to honey. — Bob Ehrlich, Baltimore Sun, 10 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for provocateurs

Noun

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez also cited agitators moving between schools to encourage violence.

— Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026
Advertisement As protests intensified, state media unleashed a frenzied smear campaign, casting Egyptian protesters as foreign agents and outside agitators.

— Abdelrahman ElGendy, Time, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of agitators

Noun

The rebels recently seized more territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

— ABC News, ABC News, 18 Oct. 2026
The rebels urged their forces to continue fighting and called on Tigrayans to support them.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of rebels

Noun

They’re seen as oligarchs, as the people with wealth and power, controlling our lives—not as outsider insurgents.

— Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
International sanctions persisted, and PF’s ZANLA and ZIPRA insurgents continued their liberation war.

— Chinatsu Tsuji, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of insurgents

Noun

Two vocal supporters of Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Xavier Becerra filed a formal campaign finance complaint against his rival, Steve Hilton, on Tuesday over the Republican campaign’s use of paid online promoters.

— Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Fears about a future AI apocalypse distract us from its present-day harms — just as its promoters hope.

— Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of promoters

Noun

Student groups protesting since mid-September through school blockades have urged supporters to join them.

— SYLVIE CORBET, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
An hour before a ball was even kicked on Sunday afternoon, the beating of drums and chanting from the River Guard supporters group could be heard loud and clear from the locker rooms at the Boas Soccer Complex.

— Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of supporters

Noun

Unsheltered intertwined two plots related to the precarity of American life and the danger of demagogues—one set at the dawn of the MAGA era.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2026
Unsheltered intertwined two plots related to the precarity of American life and the danger of demagogues — one set at the dawn of the MAGA era.

— Sam Worley, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of demagogues

Noun

That could explain why spinning galaxies can be held together without needing an extra source of gravity from dark matter, its proponents have argued.

— Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 14 Oct. 2026
Peptide proponents argue that shoddy manufacturing — not the peptides — causes harm.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of proponents

Noun

Luis Suarez was one of the instigators, spit on a Sounders official, and was punished with six-game Leagues Cup suspension, which means the Uruguayan forward is banned from the entire 2026 tournament.

— Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2026
It was said in jest, yet the sport’s most audacious instigators might take him up on it.

— Stephen J. Nesbitt, New York Times, 23 July 2026

Definition of instigators

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provocateur

provocateurs

provocation

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“Provocateurs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/provocateurs. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of provocateurs

noun

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