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PROVOCATION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Unfriendly behavior that causes anger or resentment
Synonyms:
aggravation; irritation; provocation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("provocation" is a kind of...):
aggression (deliberately unfriendly behavior)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "provocation"):
aggro ((informal British usage) aggravation or aggression)
last straw (the final irritation that stretches your patience beyond the limit)
taunt; taunting; twit (aggravation by deriding or mocking or criticizing)
Derivation:
provoke (annoy continually or chronically)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Needed encouragement
Example:
the result was a provocation of vigorous investigation
Synonyms:
incitement; provocation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("provocation" is a kind of...):
encouragement (the expression of approval and support)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "provocation"):
subornation (underhandedly or improperly inducing someone to do something improper or unlawful)
Derivation:
provoke (provide the needed stimulus for)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Something that incites or provokes; a means of arousing or stirring to action
Synonyms:
incitation; incitement; provocation
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("provocation" is a kind of...):
mental energy; psychic energy (an actuating force or factor)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "provocation"):
signal (any incitement to action)
Derivation:
provoke (provide the needed stimulus for)
provoke (evoke or provoke to appear or occur)
provoke (call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses))
Context examples:
They had but to appear on deck at the same time, when they would be at it, cursing, snarling, striking; and I have seen Leach fling himself upon Wolf Larsen without warning or provocation.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
It little mattered whether my curiosity irritated him; I knew the pleasure of vexing and soothing him by turns; it was one I chiefly delighted in, and a sure instinct always prevented me from going too far; beyond the verge of provocation I never ventured; on the extreme brink I liked well to try my skill.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
The sight of Mrs Clay in such favour, and of Anne so overlooked, was a perpetual provocation to her there; and vexed her as much when she was away, as a person in Bath who drinks the water, gets all the new publications, and has a very large acquaintance, has time to be vexed.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
But I have other provocations.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
It must have been this, I suppose, that stirred in my soul that tempest of impatience with which I listened to the civilities of my unhappy victim; I declare, at least, before God, no man morally sane could have been guilty of that crime upon so pitiful a provocation; and that I struck in no more reasonable spirit than that in which a sick child may break a plaything.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Her continual disagreements with her mother, her rash squabbles with Tom and Charles, and petulance with Betsey, were at least so distressing to Fanny that, though admitting they were by no means without provocation, she feared the disposition that could push them to such length must be far from amiable, and from affording any repose to herself.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
She also might turn with disgust from him to the superior beauty of man; she might quit him, and he be again alone, exasperated by the fresh provocation of being deserted by one of his own species.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
A disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of serious assaultive acts or destruction of property due to a failure to resist aggressive impulses; the degree of aggression during these episodes is grossly out of proportion to any psychosocial provocation.
(Intermittent Explosive Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)
John Dashwood was greatly astonished; but his nature was calm, not open to provocation, and he never wished to offend anybody, especially anybody of good fortune.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
They found that when used against a single competitor, provocation backfires: the provoked strain mounts a strong toxic counterattack and harms the provoking strain.
(Bacteria Can 'Divide and Conquer' to Vanquish Their Enemies, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
