INSTIGATOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does instigator mean? 

• INSTIGATOR (noun)
  The noun INSTIGATOR has 2 senses:

1. someone who deliberately foments trouble

2. a person who initiates a course of action

  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)