as in provocative
serving or likely to arouse a strong reaction
a deliberately inciting comment questioning someone's manhood started the brawl
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in provoking
to bring (something volatile or intense) into being
the rock band's failure to show up incited a riot, as the crowd had waited for hours
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in encouraging
to rouse to strong feeling or action
the demagogue's fiery rant incited the crowd to riot
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of inciting
Maureen Murphy, Hartford Courant, 14 Mar. 2025
He is suspected of inciting the deaths of thousands of Filipinos across the country after rising to power in 2016.
—Kyle Martin, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2025
After one pivotal student march on City Hall, he was arrested and charged with inciting a riot.
—Christopher A. Cooper, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2025
Was there a specific inciting incident?
—Delia Cai, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2025
The franchise, which had called Sony label Screen Gems home since releasing the first movie in 2002, found itself in a unique position of being up for grabs in January, inciting an intense bidding war.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2025
This is more than an inciting incident.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 5 Mar. 2025
In a 2004 interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, Johansen said he was arrested onstage in Memphis and spent a night in jail for inciting a riot.
—Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Mar. 2025
The massacre serves only as the series’ inciting incident, with Berg’s team largely unabashed in its depiction of not just that moment, but the larger survival efforts of the Indigenous, Mormons, soldiers and settlers during this bloody and blistering period.
—Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Jan. 2025
Verb
Known for inciting people of many backgrounds to pretend to long to be Irish for day, March 17 in Connecticut is generally considered a day to celebrate, drink green beer and eat corned beef or green bagels.
—Maureen Murphy, Hartford Courant, 14 Mar. 2025
He is suspected of inciting the deaths of thousands of Filipinos across the country after rising to power in 2016.
—Kyle Martin, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2025
After one pivotal student march on City Hall, he was arrested and charged with inciting a riot.
—Christopher A. Cooper, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2025
Was there a specific inciting incident?
—Delia Cai, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2025
The franchise, which had called Sony label Screen Gems home since releasing the first movie in 2002, found itself in a unique position of being up for grabs in January, inciting an intense bidding war.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2025
This is more than an inciting incident.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 5 Mar. 2025
In a 2004 interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, Johansen said he was arrested onstage in Memphis and spent a night in jail for inciting a riot.
—Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Mar. 2025
The massacre serves only as the series’ inciting incident, with Berg’s team largely unabashed in its depiction of not just that moment, but the larger survival efforts of the Indigenous, Mormons, soldiers and settlers during this bloody and blistering period.
—Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Jan. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inciting
Adjective
-
By the end, some of the provocative moves with the rattling bone piles will likely fuel criticism from the usual close-minded detractors.—
Tomás Mier,
Rolling Stone,
12 Apr. 2025
-
And while the notion that Lennon and Ono came to understand America through its television programming is provocative, too frequently the collage of grim news and glib ads leans toward the tritely ironic.—
Tim Grierson,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
This will deepen the divide between the global North and South on issues of race and cultural difference, straining the West’s diplomatic relations with countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America while provoking broader resentment toward Western countries seen as perpetuating racial hierarchies.—
Matias Spektor,
Foreign Affairs,
7 Jan. 2025
-
In 2008, the United States suggested that Georgia and Ukraine might eventually join the alliance but offered no concrete path to membership, thus provoking Russia without effectively deterring it.—
Michael Beckley,
Foreign Affairs,
7 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
Thursday’s swings also hit the bond market, which had been showing encouraging signals earlier in the day that stress may be easing.—
Time,
Time,
11 Apr. 2025
-
Kym was the one sneaking them onto rec teams and encouraging them to join AAU programs.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The ceremony came at a charged moment, coinciding with Columbia University canceling its graduation ceremony (and largely closing off its campus).—
David Matthews,
New York Daily News,
6 May 2024
-
Of course, genocide is a charged and redolent term, recalling the systematic precision of the Holocaust and the society-wide butchery of the Rwandan genocide.—
Kristina Hook,
Foreign Affairs,
28 July 2022
Verb
-
But at the time, the theory that providing children with stimulating activities would help them more than rote learning and academic drills was revolutionary.—
Sonja Anderson,
Smithsonian Magazine,
6 Jan. 2025
-
For only the second time in at least a decade, top leaders last month made stimulating spending and domestic demand their top priority in 2025.—
Amanda Gerut,
Fortune Asia,
3 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inciting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inciting. Accessed 21 Apr. 2025.
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