as in rebels
a person who stirs up public feelings especially of discontent
a political agitator who led an unsuccessful revolt against the government
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Recent Examples of agitators
Republicans have blamed many of those confrontations on Democratic activists and agitators.
—
Julia Manchester, The Hill, 14 Mar. 2025
One of the book’s most intriguing characters is Roth, a judge who used racial slurs in private and initially viewed NAACP lawyers as outside agitators.
—John Blake, CNN, 12 Mar. 2025
Videos of those confrontations — which Republicans blamed on Democratic agitators — made their way online and quickly went viral.
—Mike Lillis, The Hill, 12 Mar. 2025
Multiple agitators were arrested during the operation.
—Rachel Wolf, Fox News, 12 Mar. 2025
Birman believes that messaging is still having an impact on student agitators.
—Rachel Wolf, Fox News, 12 Mar. 2025
In past standoffs, Democrats have felt confident that government shutdown politics played to their advantage, as the media often put scrutiny on Republicans during spending lapses — or Democrats were able to blame conservative agitators for shutdowns.
—Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 11 Mar. 2025
Many are not students, they are paid agitators.
—Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025
Columbia faced sharp criticism over its response to the agitators, who set up camp on a lawn and were accused of harassing Jewish students.
—Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 10 Feb. 2025
Julia Manchester, The Hill, 14 Mar. 2025
One of the book’s most intriguing characters is Roth, a judge who used racial slurs in private and initially viewed NAACP lawyers as outside agitators.
—John Blake, CNN, 12 Mar. 2025
Videos of those confrontations — which Republicans blamed on Democratic agitators — made their way online and quickly went viral.
—Mike Lillis, The Hill, 12 Mar. 2025
Multiple agitators were arrested during the operation.
—Rachel Wolf, Fox News, 12 Mar. 2025
Birman believes that messaging is still having an impact on student agitators.
—Rachel Wolf, Fox News, 12 Mar. 2025
In past standoffs, Democrats have felt confident that government shutdown politics played to their advantage, as the media often put scrutiny on Republicans during spending lapses — or Democrats were able to blame conservative agitators for shutdowns.
—Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 11 Mar. 2025
Many are not students, they are paid agitators.
—Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025
Columbia faced sharp criticism over its response to the agitators, who set up camp on a lawn and were accused of harassing Jewish students.
—Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 10 Feb. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agitators
Noun
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And when a couple of grenades are thrown into their space – because insurgents happen to be in the house next door – the action ratchets up and begins to spin out of control for the soldiers.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
10 Apr. 2025
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Troops unknowingly entered an apartment building next to insurgents, and al-Qaeda forces hurled a grenade through a sniper hole, injuring one of the SEALs, Elliott Miller (Cosmo Jarvis).—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Some of Mangione's supporters have left messages of praise for him, while others have criticized the fundraising efforts.—
Hannah Parry,
Newsweek,
24 Dec. 2024
-
At Wolves, Nuno would often be criticised by supporters for his reluctance to use his substitutes to make tactical tweaks during matches.—
Paul Taylor,
The Athletic,
24 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
One thing that promoters do worry about this time of year is inclement weather.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
5 Jan. 2025
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Higher ticket prices The average ticket price is expected to rise again in 2025, with promoters blaming ballooning costs on unprecedented demand.—
John Wenzel,
The Denver Post,
3 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Women and people of color are historically paid less than their white male counterparts, and proponents of the transparency practice say this would help mitigate that by making pay public.—
Carrie Shepherd,
Axios,
3 Jan. 2025
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Despite these predictions, New York remains a very Democratic state, and energy proponents will no doubt still face an uphill battle in trying to change state policy.—
Daniel Markind,
Forbes,
31 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Agitators.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agitators. Accessed 19 Apr. 2025.
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