as in rebel
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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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agent provocateur
Noun
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Gillespie also has a reputation for melding music to movies, as seen in Cruella, his 2021 movie that cast Disney villainess Cruella de Vil as a punk rock rebel in London’s fashion scene.
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The winner is the daughter of the late Alberto Fujimori, the former president whose government in the 1990s defeated the Shining Path extremist rebel group but also took an authoritarian turn.
Noun
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Gray is endorsed by Kansas City’s branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, and represents the insurgent left flank of the Democratic Party in the race.
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Out went what was left of country-club Republicanism; in came the Fifth Avenue insurgent and his MAGA hordes.
Noun
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More than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically massacred in the East African nation by Hutu extremists over roughly 100 days from April to July 1994.
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Opportunists like the daycare group, which was selling weapons, and extremists — not the hobbyists.
Noun
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Minions & Monsters sees the pint-sized yellow troublemakers in 1920s Hollywood trying to make a creature feature.
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Sirianni hesitates for a moment, like the school troublemaker on the verge of another unpleasant trip to the principal’s office.
Noun
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Good luck with that message in flyover country when the revolutionaries don’t enjoy the advantages of light-turnout primaries.
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Many became meeting places for the Founding Fathers and other revolutionaries as tensions with Britain grew.
Noun
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One of OpenAI’s biggest investors is Softbank, the massive Japanese telecoms company run by tech booster Masayoshi Son.
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Additionally, Thursday morning’s mission was the last to use the Atlas V’s most powerful configuration with five strap-on solid rocket boosters.
Noun
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As genetics, psychology, and neuroscience ascended, the twentieth century sent physiognomy back into disrepute, and today, from Lavater to Lombroso, its promoters may seem a racist shade of quaint.
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During The Huns’ audition at the Cellar, Nugent was standing next to club owner/promoter Paul Sampson, who was skeptical of the group’s Catholic schoolboy looks — braces, short haircuts and all.
Noun
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Seven Mountains has brought the language of spiritual warfare and demon-fighting into the mainstream of evangelicalism, through a network of pastors who view themselves as prophets and apostles engaged in a battle against evil secular forces.
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Sheiner also appeared as the apostle James the Elder in George Stevens’ The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and had a meaty turn as Guido Lorenz, cop and partner of Charles Bronson’s Det.
Cite this Entry
“Agent provocateur.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agent%20provocateur. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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