provocation
57
7.2
- noun
- /ˌprɒvəˈkeɪʃən/
- The rude comment was a clear provocation that made her angry.
- the slightest provocation
- avoid provocation
- response to provocation
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Watch on YouTubeLet me close with some sweeping comments which are really provocations for conversation.
- Let me close with some sweeping comments which are really provocations for conversation.
- So we've done all of this despite all of these provocations, and they keep upping the ante.
- So without provocation, I think someone's got something against me.
- But I think it's important for Americans understand our role and the provocations that led up to the war.
- You're now responding to the provocation.
- We're evoking emotions in them that are unpleasant and thus they are reacting to our provocation.
- The mere carrying of a gun, illegally or not, is not by itself a violent provocation.
- Of course, one of the risks of rearming is that opponents might see increased military spending as a provocation.
Examples
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A rational person's responses to provocations, to assaults will always be measured and appropriate.
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But I think it's important for Americans understand our role and the provocations that led up to the war.
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To attack without provocation, without reason, just because they can...
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If somebody just with no provocation whatsoever attacks your parents, you should probably get angry.
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Those words were spoken in anger and under extreme provocation.
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Any provocation could lead to an all-out war.
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You realize, of course, they'll take this to be an act of sheer provocation.
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But Muslims saw his campaigns as a provocation, a challenge directed against Islam's holy places.
Academic text (1998) -
After a string of German provocations, the US finally declares war on Germany.
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" He'll rush into a duel on the slightest provocation these days," she said.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
12
8.1
To encourage people to do something illegal or violent
5
7.5
The act of encouraging people to start trouble or a protest
1
3.5
Rude or annoying behavior that makes other people angry
1
7.4
A quality that causes strong reactions or interest in people
1
8.6
An action or speech that urges people to do something, often in a harmful way
1
7.7
Getting information or a reaction from people by asking questions
1
5.6
Mean actions that make other people angry
1
9.9
Encouraging people to cause trouble or public anger
The act of causing strong, often angry feelings in people
Antonyms
How Provoking
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Provocation comes from the parts pro- and vocare, where pro- means 'forward' and vocare means 'to call'. So a provocation is something that 'calls' someone to react, often making them angry or causing them to act.