English Dictionary

INSTIGATOR

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

IPA (US): 

 Dictionary entry overview: What does instigator mean? 

INSTIGATOR (noun)
  The noun INSTIGATOR has 2 senses:

1. someone who deliberately foments troubleplay

2. a person who initiates a course of actionplay

  Familiarity information: INSTIGATOR used as a noun is rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


INSTIGATOR (noun)


Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who deliberately foments trouble

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

firebrand; inciter; instigant; instigator; provoker

Context example:

she was the instigator of their quarrel

Hypernyms ("instigator" is a kind of...):

bad hat; mischief-maker; trouble maker; troublemaker; troubler (someone who deliberately stirs up trouble)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "instigator"):

ringleader (a person who leads (especially in illicit activities))

Derivation:

instigate (provoke or stir up)


Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who initiates a course of action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

initiator; instigator

Hypernyms ("instigator" is a kind of...):

leader (a person who rules or guides or inspires others)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "instigator"):

aggressor (a confident assertive person who acts as instigator)

Derivation:

instigate (serve as the inciting cause of)


 Context examples 


He cannot be the instigator of the three villains in horsemen's greatcoats, by whom she will hereafter be forced into a traveling-chaise and four, which will drive off with incredible speed.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

She was the instigator.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"If at first you don't succeed, well, you're about average" (English proverb)

"A person is known by the company he keeps." (Bulgarian proverb)

"Covering one's own ears while stealing a bell." (Chinese proverb)

"Know what you say, but don't say all that you know." (Dutch proverb)



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