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PROVOCATIVE

Pronunciation (US):

Dictionary entry overview: What does provocative mean?

• PROVOCATIVE (adjective)
The adjective PROVOCATIVE has 2 senses:

1. serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate; stimulating discussion or exciting controversy
2. exciting sexual desire

Familiarity information: PROVOCATIVE used as an adjective is rare.

Dictionary entry details

• PROVOCATIVE (adjective)

Sense 1

provocative ^{[BACK TO TOP]}

Meaning:

Serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate; stimulating discussion or exciting controversy

Context examples:

a provocative remark / a provocative smile / provocative Irish tunes which...compel the hearers to dance

Similar:

agitating; agitative; provoking (causing or tending to cause anger or resentment)

challenging; intriguing (disturbingly provocative)

charged (capable of producing violent emotion or arousing controversy)

incendiary; incitive; inflammatory; instigative; rabble-rousing; seditious (arousing to action or rebellion)

rousing (rousing to activity or heightened action as by spurring or goading)

Also:

exciting (creating or arousing excitement)

Antonym:

unprovocative (not provocative)

Sense 2

provocative ^{[BACK TO TOP]}

Meaning:

Exciting sexual desire

Context example:

her gestures and postures became more wanton and provocative

Similar:

sexy (marked by or tending to arouse sexual desire or interest)

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PROVOCATIVE: related words searches

» intriguing: pronunciation in phonetic transcription
» inflammatory meaning
» What does instigative mean?
» Definition of seditious
» What does unprovocative mean?

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