How to Use provocateur in a Sentence

provocateur

noun
  • Steele hasn’t been afraid to play the role of off-air provocateur.
    — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 5 Oct. 2021
  • Kirk was a provocateur, no doubt.
    — Editorial, Boston Herald, 12 Sep. 2025
  • There were right-wing provocateurs coming to town.
    — Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 6 Feb. 2026
  • The rapper and provocateur is vying to win top gospel artist for the second year in a row.
    — Paul Grein, Billboard, 29 Apr. 2021
  • And, of course, radio jokester and provocateur Stern.
    — Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2026
  • If Ethridge wasn’t so good at this, he could be dismissed as a joker, a provocateur.
    — Vince Aletti, The New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2022
  • Hans was a provocateur, not a prodigy—and certainly not a threat.
    — Ben Mezrich, Vanity Fair, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Noé is a bit of a provocateur in the way that Lebron is kind of good at basketball.
    — Joshua Rivera, GQ, 14 May 2018
  • There are four reporters at the heart of my book, plus one agitator and provocateur.
    — Karin Wulf, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Mar. 2022
  • In fact, both have played the role of primetime provocateur for their respective outlets.
    — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 26 Apr. 2023
  • Kirk gained an online audience for his right-wing provocateur persona.
    — Richard Hall, Time, 11 Sep. 2025
  • To instead prompt your leader to coach, make sure to approach them as a thought partner and provocateur of learning.
    — Carylynn Larson, Forbes, 12 Oct. 2021
  • All the same, this reviewer could not help longing for a glimpse of Madonna the provocateur.
    — C.m., The Economist, 19 June 2019
  • At the same time, Roth was a provocateur from the beginning, in the sense that all essential artists are.
    — David L. Ulin, latimes.com, 23 May 2018
  • Before this, Gaga was seen as a shock-and-awe pop provocateur whose skill took a backseat to spectacle.
    — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, 28 Sep. 2018
  • For her part, Omar seems content to embrace her role as provocateur, lightning rod and activist.
    — Alana Abramson, Time, 18 July 2019
  • Which might explain why, in 2018, the best music from hip-hop’s lead provocateur is rock and roll.
    — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 14 June 2018
  • That is a mission very much in line with North Korea’s provocateur playbook.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 17 Nov. 2020
  • Pitt was in the starring role of Tyler Durden, a soap salesman and provocateur who forms a fight club.
    — Nick Romano, EW.com, 4 Aug. 2022
  • The speech in question, of course, is one by alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.
    — Katherine Timpf, National Review, 2 Sep. 2017
  • From there, the coach plays the role of intellectual mirror and provocateur.
    — Rhea Wessel, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
  • This same climate, however, allowed for vicious attacks on a provocateur from their side who had just been killed in cold blood.
    — Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 21 Dec. 2025
  • With half-rim glasses and collared shirts, Trewhella looks and sounds more like a professor than a provocateur.
    — ProPublica, 10 July 2024
  • With half-rim glasses and collared shirts, Trewhella looks and sounds more like a professor than a provocateur.
    — Phoebe Petrovic, Journal Sentinel, 9 Aug. 2024
  • Rodman, for much of the past decade, has been playing a stereotype of himself -- the brash, unpredictable provocateur.
    — Chris Cillizza, CNN, 12 June 2018
  • Milo Yiannopoulos, the disgraced far-right provocateur, was the grand marshal.
    — Eric Levenson, CNN, 9 Sep. 2019
  • Two young white men will play the role of Milo Yiannopoulos-esque troll-provocateurs thirsting for fame.
    — Anne Branigin, The Root, 25 Sep. 2017
  • But the idea of handling such a gleeful provocateur with kid gloves seems to somehow miss the point of De Palma’s work.
    — Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2024
  • Police released the email’s contents on Monday, which some observers say may have been sent as a joke by right-wing provocateurs.
    — oregonlive.com, 1 July 2019
  • His status as a self-aware, hyper-online provocateur may not seem to suggest the makings of a bona fide filmmaker, but just wait.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 15 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'provocateur.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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