| 单词 | provocateur |
| 释义 | provocateur (once / 20920 pages) n A provocateur has the job of convincing people to commit crimes. Usually, a provocateur works for a police department or government. If police want to catch a criminal in the act, they might use a provocateur to induce the suspect to buy drugs, for example, so officers can swoop in and make an arrest. Provocateur is a shortened form of "agent provocateur," used since the late 1800s to mean "person hired to make trouble." When police officers pretend to join protests — such as those at political conventions — with the goal of inciting people to violence and then arresting them, they act as provocateurs. WORD FAMILYprovocateur: provocateurs USAGE EXAMPLESThough he is often described as a troll provocateur, he prefers the label “free-speech fundamentalist.” The New Yorker(Dec 30, 2016) The Post’s View: An alt-right provocateur says the University of Maryland censored him. Washington Post(Dec 08, 2016) A roiling year of Oscars So White and Black Lives Matter yielded a race-minded provocateur like Chris Rock last February. Los Angeles Times(Dec 07, 2016) n a secret agent who incites suspected persons to commit illegal acts Syn|Hyper agent provocateur intelligence agent, intelligence officer, operative, secret agent a person secretly employed in espionage for a government |
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