agent provocateur

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A person who secretly disrupts a group's activities from within the group, particularly by encouraging or committing illegal acts to discredit the group or expose them to prosecution; an instigator, troublemaker.

Pronunciation

/ˌɑʒɑnt pɹəˌvɔkəˈtɝ/ /-ˈtʊəɹ/ /ˌɑʒɑ̃-/ /ˌæʒɒ̃ pɹəˌvɒkəˈtɜː/ /ˌeɪd͡ʒənt-/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-agent provocateur.wav

Word forms

agent provocateur agents provocateurs

Etymology

Borrowed from French agent provocateur (literally “provocative agent”).

Related words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.