agent provocateur

noun

Definition of agent provocateurnext
as in rebel

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

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 agent provocateur The Italian Marco Materazzi was an agent provocateur, tossing out words about Zidane’s family like a grenade set to spew forth a red mist. — Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 31 May 2026 And for good reason; Villanueva spent his four years in office more as an agent provocateur than a public safety official. — The Editorial Board, Daily News, 13 May 2026 Members of the crowd accused Epps of being an agent provocateur, which later helped spur the conspiracy theories about him. — Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2024 Anyone who maligns the sultan is immediately thought to be an agent provocateur working for the sultan, and probably is. — Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agent provocateur
  1. rebel
  2. insurgent
  3. extremist
  4. troublemaker
  5. revolutionary
  6. booster
  7. promoter
  8. apostle
Noun
  • The Saudis did not blame any party for the attacks, but Houthi rebels took credit earlier for the airport strikes.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Attacks by the Houthis, the Yemeni rebel group, on commercial shipping in the Red Sea over the last three years have pushed major carriers around the Cape of Good Hope, boosting traffic at ports along Africa’s southern and western coasts.
    — Jared Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of rebel
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
  • Others look further back to early and sporadic insurgent activity in 1964, before the UDI, or to 1965, the year of the UDI (November 11) itself.
    — Chinatsu Tsuji, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of insurgent
Noun
  • The groups similarly present themselves as armed community defenders against the government or right-wing extremists, but continue to find members who get in trouble with law enforcement.
    — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Labour legislator Jo Cox was shot and stabbed in 2016 by a far-right extremist, and Conservative David Amess was stabbed in 2021 by an attacker inspired by the Islamic State group.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of extremist
Noun
  • The protests against the underfunding of schools — many of them struggling with dilapidated facilities and insufficient staff — have drawn troublemakers not concerned about the aims of the protest movement as well as unions and political groups.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Hiller plays Aldrict, an old-world vampire who has crossed paths with Liz several times over the centuries and is a bit of a troublemaker.
    — Peter White, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of troublemaker
Noun
  • But unlike other Floridians of Cuban descent — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio — Valdes ended up defending Cuba’s socialist revolutionaries and officials who have killed, jailed, tortured, and censored numerous political enemies.
    — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026
  • State media claimed that revolutionaries had been trained by Israel and tied them, simultaneously, to the United States, Iran, Hamas, al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and international NGOs.
    — Abdelrahman ElGendy, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of revolutionary
Noun
  • The statement said the weapon separated from its booster rocket at the planned altitude, then descended and maneuvered both vertically and horizontally before hitting a test target.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The anti-catalog exposed, after the fact of the Bicentennial, the grotesqueries of corporate beneficence and private boosters that had supplemented the government’s project.
    — Anna Kornbluh, ARTnews.com, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of booster
Noun
  • By the time jokes start flying, about 12,300 tickets will have been purchased, said Creston Thornton, president of promoter Live Nation’s mountain region.
    — Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Canny has decades of experience in the rock world, variously serving as a talent buyer, a concert promoter, an artist-management company VP, and the founder of an artist-representative firm.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of promoter
Noun
  • Every night, after Jesus died on the cross, my apostles gently helped me down from the chain-link fence to which I had been lashed.
    — Victor Garber, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Bethsaida, close to Jesus' ministry in Capernaum, was once the home of the apostles Peter, Andrew and Philip.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of apostle

Browse Nearby Words

agent
agent provocateur
agents
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Agent provocateur.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agent%20provocateur. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on agent provocateur

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about agent provocateur

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of galore

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All