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instigator

American  
[in-sti-gey-ter] / ˈɪn stɪˌgeɪ tər /
Rarely instigant

noun

  1. a person or thing that provokes or incites an action or course: Plays to be performed at the festival focus on a theme of how youth can be the instigators of positive change.

    Peaceful protesters outnumbered the violent instigators, and they kept the demonstration from becoming a riot.

    Plays to be performed at the festival focus on a theme of how youth can be the instigators of positive change.

Etymology

Origin of instigator

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin instigātor, equivalent to instigāt(us) + -or -or 2 ( def. ); instigate ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Intervention by the governor and community mediation efforts restored a fragile peace to the area, but the instigators of the violence remain at large.

From Barron's

According to their coach, Romain Haguenauer, this change of music was the result of behind-the-scenes manipulation -- the instigator allegedly an American judge, a compatriot of Chock and Bates.

From Barron's

He is desperate not to be the instigator, or author, of another blast of extraordinary turbulence in British politics.

From BBC

I grinned, not sorry to be the instigator of our new look.

From Literature

When Thorne first read the book, lead character Jack, instigator of hunts on the island, was the "epitome of evil".

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.