as in rebel
a person who stirs up public feelings especially of discontent
a political agitator who led an unsuccessful revolt against the government
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Recent Examples of agitator
Few populist leaders better epitomize the turn against climate policy than Nigel Farage, the British agitator who led the campaign to leave the European Union.
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Edoardo Campanella, Foreign Affairs, 25 July 2024
The flag incident happened in May, when anti-Israel agitators set up an encampment on the quad, successfully replacing Old Glory once before UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts responded with law enforcement officers to return the American flag to its place.
—Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 2 Sep. 2024
Rallying cries have come from a diffuse group of social media accounts, but a key player in amplifying them is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a longtime far-right agitator who uses the name Tommy Robinson.
—Pan Pylas, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Aug. 2024
Thousands of anticommunist agitators, professional patriots, and unreconstructed confederates gathered to protest and disrupt.
—Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for agitator 
Edoardo Campanella, Foreign Affairs, 25 July 2024
The flag incident happened in May, when anti-Israel agitators set up an encampment on the quad, successfully replacing Old Glory once before UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts responded with law enforcement officers to return the American flag to its place.
—Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 2 Sep. 2024
Rallying cries have come from a diffuse group of social media accounts, but a key player in amplifying them is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a longtime far-right agitator who uses the name Tommy Robinson.
—Pan Pylas, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Aug. 2024
Thousands of anticommunist agitators, professional patriots, and unreconstructed confederates gathered to protest and disrupt.
—Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for agitator
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agitator
Noun
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The rebels have threatened new attacks in response to Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon and its killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.Jon Gambrell, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2024
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The Israel-Hamas war has intensified other conflicts in the Middle East, including attacks on international shipping lanes by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 14 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Photo: David Dee Delgado/AFP/Getty Images Members and supporters of the New York Immigration Coalition at an Election Night watch party at their offices in New York City.Curbed Staff, Curbed, 6 Nov. 2024
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Related article Elon Musk’s misleading election claims have been viewed more than 2 billion times on X, analysis finds Former President Donald Trump and many of his supporters have already made repeated false claims that Democrats are cheating in the election.Clare Duffy, CNN, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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As a result, the very outcome the founders most feared, namely election of a demagogue by a gullible cult of true-believers, has been made possible because of the Electoral College, which was originally designed to avoid precisely that outcome.Joseph J. Ellis, The Mercury News, 31 Oct. 2024
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Yale historian Timothy Snyder’s new book On Freedom explains how institutions of government can protect human rights while his 2017 book On Tyranny explains how demagogues succeed in eroding those pillars of society to be replaced by a tyrant.Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, TIME, 8 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Underscoring the state's competitiveness, firebrand GOP Sen. Ron Johnson was reelected in 2022 by about 26,000 votes, while in 2023, liberal judge Janet Protasiewicz won a seat on the state Supreme Court over conservative judge Dan Kelly by a whopping 11 points.ABC NEWS, ABC News, 4 Nov. 2024
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The other side: Boebert remains a firebrand conservative and she's aligned herself closely with former President Trump.John Frank, Axios, 31 Oct. 2024
Noun
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As president, Trump leaned even further into his role as a promoter of his own businesses.Zach Everson, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
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Kennedy has been a leading promoter of false theories about vaccines being linked to autism.Lauren Irwin, The Hill, 4 Nov. 2024
Noun
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If former President Donald Trump is elected president, the nation's loudest anti-vaccine proponent could conceivably be in a position to drastically transform U.S. health policy.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
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The text of the constitutional amendment written by Issue 1 proponents would be added to the state Constitution.Jessie Balmert, The Enquirer, 31 Oct. 2024
Noun
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My sense is that people infatuated with this tinpot Marxist analysis enjoy the rush of feeling like the naughty provocateur without paying any real price for transgression.Lily Burana, Rolling Stone, 4 Nov. 2024
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Turning Point Action, founded by conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk, has held GOP vote-chasing events with at least 22 churches in six swing states since March, according to research conducted by the progressive watchdog group Documented and verified by NBC News.Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News, 31 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Operating in loose cooperation with Lebanese insurgents, these militias wreaked havoc on Israeli forces and their collaborators.Sarah E. Parkinson, Foreign Affairs, 11 Nov. 2024
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His ascension was part of a wave of insurgent, anti-establishment candidates who sought to push the Republican Party further to the right.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near agitator
Cite this Entry
“Agitator.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agitator. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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