provocation
58
7.2
- noun
- /ˌprɒvəˈkeɪʃən/
:
provocación
- The rude comment was a clear provocation that made her angry.
- the slightest provocation
- avoid provocation
- response to provocation
Let 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.
-
" He'll rush into a duel on the slightest provocation these days," she said.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
13
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
3
3.5
Rude or annoying behavior that makes other people angry
2
5.6
Mean actions that make 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
The act of causing strong, often angry feelings in people
Encouraging people to cause trouble or public anger
Getting information or a reaction from people by asking questions
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.