How to Use provocative in a Sentence

provocative

adjective

• It was one of his more provocative suggestions.
• She was wearing a very provocative outfit.
• Rude wanted to show me the most provocative street art in the city.
  — Tony Perrottet, Travel + Leisure, 11 June 2023
• Cloud was beloved by fans of the provocative teen drama.
  — Lisa Respers France, CNN, 1 Aug. 2023
• And that makes this provocative but uneasy film leave a sour taste in the mouth.
  — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Sep. 2023
• Warts and all, this is a lovely, deep, provocative book.
  — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 7 June 2023
• Some of Cracknell’s choices, in fact, make the work less provocative.
  — Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2024
• The artist’s small paintings are as dense and provocative as his large ones — tiny worlds full of ideograms, like tarot cards.
  — Cate McQuaid, BostonGlobe.com, 9 May 2023
• But even the provocative purveyor of $800 T-shirts isn’t immune to the cowboy myth.
  — Naomi Rougeau, Robb Report, 3 Oct. 2023
• The whole point of these provocative campaigns is to show that fashion doesn’t have to be so serious.
  — Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 22 Sep. 2023
• The authors of the provocative study make an unfortunate but true point.
  — Marshall Shepherd, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024
• In both cases, the hope is to engage and test them, so that something new, and provocative, results.
  — Bill Fischer, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2023
• The provocative comments, experts said, were part of a pattern.
  — Genevieve Glatsky, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
• Nudes are one of the oldest and most stubbornly provocative tropes in Western art.
  — Julia Halperin, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024
• The initial paper wasn’t written to be provocative, Sharkey said.
  — Brooke Jarvis, WIRED, 10 Nov. 2022
• The lyrics were also, notably, a little provocative, too.
  — Ilana Kaplan, Peoplemag, 27 July 2023
• Even so, its provocative themes and images have challenged friends and allies.
  — Robert Ito, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2024
• The men’s tailoring at the women’s shows was more straightforward, and in turn less provocative.
  — José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 12 Oct. 2023
• That makes the rest of the experience more memorable and provocative.
  — WIRED, 26 July 2023
• The albums that followed seemed to be reaching for the provocative edge of Pop 2 while firmly keeping a foot in the mainstream pop world.
  — Hazlitt, 17 July 2024
• Still, there’s sometimes a prankster quality to Kapoor’s more provocative work.
  — Jay Cheshes, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Oct. 2023
• Lanthimos ridicules mankind’s treachery in films that, scene by scene, are not provocative, just crass.
  — Armond White, National Review, 21 June 2024
• Is the new adaptation adding to or revising the original text in a provocative way?
  — Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 28 Mar. 2023
• Abrams have not been deemed overly provocative, the official said.
  — Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2023
• Previously viewed as a more provocative style choice, even the sheerest of looks are now viewed through the lens of elegance.
  — Joyce Onuorah, Essence, 22 Dec. 2023
• Nova’s work with visual artists was no less provocative.
  — Allyson McCabe, New York Times, 20 Jan. 2023
• Maybe the critique is less provocative because of how familiar and well-established the facts are?
  — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Apr. 2023
• With a fresh voice and a keen eye, Valia has crafted a tense and provocative exploration of class and race in middle America.
  — Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2024
• Bloomin’ lovely Retro and provocative at the same time, bloomers are definitely back next summer.
  — Jason Ma, Fortune Europe, 1 Oct. 2024
• Much of the new movie’s power comes from Culkin’s Benji, a filterless character who’s both provocative and vulnerable — a kind of conscience id — and his comedic friction with Eisenberg’s strait-laced David.
  — Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Oct. 2024

Last Updated: 6 Nov 2024