provocateur , also: provoker

The government is likely to send in provocateurs, he said.

In theory, she was the perfect provocateur to leave behind.

To some extent, he was playing a traditional role of provocateur.

Nobody would see her as a provocateur, much less a revolutionary.

He'd been their agent provocateur for crises around the world.

"All that's wanted now is to do away with the agent provocateur to make everything safe."

"We knew that if the provocateurs came and saw so much support for our party, they would be too afraid to attack," she said.

And it saves the police the effort of having to use their own provocateurs.

But Arab men said today that the settlers were the provocateurs.

"She called me a provocateur," said Jason, not understanding why the word came back to him.

Even scholars less likely to play the role of professional provocateur will sound much the same note.

"I like to be a provocateur, to shake people up," he said.

Expelled from the party on charges of being a "provocateur".

Which only made sense given the first mate's task of watching foreign provocateurs.

Now another thought occurred to her: perhaps this person was no friend at all, but an agent provocateur!

Of course he would like it; he was the provocateur.

Pollack's a sympathetic provocateur, and yet what is he saying?

It was all a testament to the playwright's role as provocateur.

And perhaps real converts were playing the game the other way, as agents provocateurs.

How about this police officer you're using as agent provocateur?"

He sometimes acted on their behalf as an agent provocateur.

It could be that these technologies are being produced by vegetarian provocateurs.

"You can't be a police provocateur," he commented over his shoulder.

We'll find the provocateur, we won't let him get away."

But now, at age 71 and sick with cancer, she has suddenly returned to her role as professional provocateur.