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agent provocateur

[ey-juhnt pruh-vok-uh-tur, a-zhahn praw-vaw-ka-tœr] / ˈeɪ dʒənt prəˌvɒk əˈtɜr, a ʒɑ̃ prɔ vɔ kaˈtœr /


Example Sentences

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Reckzeh had been set up as a spy and agent provocateur by the Gestapo: Thadden had been fooled by his elaborately constructed cover story.

From The Wall Street Journal Nov. 19, 2025

"I experienced at first hand a rather pathetic attempt by an agent provocateur to put me in a great deal of trouble," he said.

From BBC Oct. 30, 2023

Jester, troubadour, agent provocateur, Serge Gainsbourg rhymed his way through life in a fog of Gitanes smoke, making music of every genre.

From New York Times Sep. 25, 2023

“One of the hopes here is that this series can be an agent provocateur to ask tough questions about what happened,” said Alex Gibney, who created the series with Wright and directed the first episode.

From Washington Post Feb. 28, 2018

With him, the composer as agent provocateur had arrived.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall




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