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.

The reader doesn’t discover much about how Mansfield’s work was shaped by changing personal circumstances, from hectic bohemia to a series of continental spas, and learns too little about Mansfield’s achievements as a literary provocateur.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

In the early days of Monday Night Football, Howard Cosell, the original sports media provocateur, often griped about former NFL players leaving the field and walking into the booth.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2025

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

Fuentes famously spent years harassing Kirk and his Turning Point staff at similar college campus events before Kirk banned the provocateur.

From Salon • Oct. 29, 2025

With him, the composer as agent provocateur had arrived.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall