instigated

verb

past tense of instigate
1
as in provoked
to bring (something volatile or intense) into being the medical breakthrough instigated a whole new field of therapy

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in encouraged
to rouse to strong feeling or action the charge that the scene in the movie had instigated teenagers to commit similar acts of vandalism

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 instigated Peters allegedly instigated the fight and then posted video of it online. — Penny Kmitt, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026 Fossil fuels are also subject to increasing price volatility, particularly since the US instigated war with Iran. — Justine Calma, The Verge, 19 Oct. 2026 The ethnic standoff, first instigated by land disputes, adds another layer to the country’s ongoing civil war which broke out in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). — ABC News, 25 Aug. 2026 Now people on both sides of the border will pay for a senseless trade war instigated by a petulant and vengeful president. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 24 Aug. 2026 When a pandemic like Covid goes global, with wide stay-at-home policies instigated, oil and gas companies feel the commercial disaster very quickly. — Ian Dexter Palmer, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026 That was a move partly instigated to develop a new crop of fast bowlers, but a home series defeat to Bangladesh two years ago and the loss of the first Test to England in October 2024 prompted the PCB to switch to spin-friendly tracks. — Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026 Instead, the Citizens’ Council, a white supremacist organization, claimed Williams instigated the riots. — Aaron Coy Moulton, The Conversation, 7 Aug. 2026 Those same cartels instigated the crisis that gripped Mexico during my travels. — Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 28 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for instigated
  1. provoked
  2. encouraged
  3. triggered
  4. stimulated
Verb
  • North Korea denied responsibility for the explosions and warned of strong retaliation if provoked.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026
  • French’s post provoked social media responses calling for violence against Indians and desecrating Hindu temples.
    — Arun Brahmbhatt, The Conversation, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of provoked
Verb
  • Alison Linder, assistant sustainability coordinator at Occidental College, which has a thrift store of its own with Halloween costumes in stock, encouraged people to organize their own swaps with neighbors, friends or school classmates.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
  • But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has repeatedly dismissed previous caution of AI tools and encouraged rapid autonomous innovation at the Pentagon.
    — Chiara Eisner, NPR, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of encouraged
Verb
  • The attacks, which saw 1,195 people killed and 251 taken into Gaza as hostages, triggered a major security crisis that led to three years of war on multiple fronts.
    — Yarden Segev, NBC news, 27 Oct. 2026
  • More recently, inflation triggered by the Iran war has increased energy and food prices across the country in 2026.
    — Amy L. Wong, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of triggered
Verb
  • The move stimulated the private sector and accelerated the deployment of EV infrastructure, Vesser said.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Issagholyan built out a 24-session plan to course-correct, involving twice weekly visits in which I would be chiropractically adjusted, my jaw cold-lasered to promote cellular regeneration and my back muscles stimulated by electrodes.
    — Alessandra Codinha, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of stimulated

Browse Nearby Words

instigate
instigated
instigates
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Instigated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/instigated. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
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 milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

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
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All