INSTIGATE
Dictionary entry overview: What does instigate mean?
• INSTIGATE (verb)
The verb INSTIGATE has 2 senses:
1. provoke or stir up
2. serve as the inciting cause of
Familiarity information: INSTIGATE used as a verb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
• INSTIGATE (verb)
Meaning:
Provoke or stir up
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
instigate; incite; stir up; set off
Context examples:
incite a riot / set off great unrest among the people
Hypernyms (to "instigate" is one way to...):
provoke; stimulate (provide the needed stimulus for)
Cause:
act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "instigate"):
raise (activate or stir up)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Meaning:
Serve as the inciting cause of
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
instigate; prompt; inspire
Context example:
She prompted me to call my relatives
Hypernyms (to "instigate" is one way to...):
cause; get; have; induce; make; stimulate (cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Sentence example:
They instigate him to write the letter
