Provocation
noun
An action or event that causes anger or strong reaction from someone.
He reacted violently to the slightest provocation.
Often appears as...
- slightest provocation
- act of provocation
noun
In law, a complaint or action which causes someone to react or respond.
His aggressive behaviour was a provocation for the fight.
Often appears as...
- legal provocation
- provocation defense
Usage tips
Formal
Technical
noun
An action or event that causes anger or strong reaction from someone.
He reacted violently to the slightest provocation.
Often appears as...
- slightest provocation
- act of provocation
noun
In law, a complaint or action which causes someone to react or respond.
His aggressive behaviour was a provocation for the fight.
Often appears as...
- legal provocation
- provocation defense
Usage tips
Formal
Technical
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Emotional Trigger
Provocation often refers to something that emotionally triggers someone, usually leading to a reaction.
She slammed the door in response to his provocation.
Pro Tip 2/3Precedes Reaction
It implies an action that comes before and provokes a reaction. The focus is on the cause, not the effect.
The crowd was calm until the provocation made them erupt in anger.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Always Intentional
Provocation may not always be intentional. Actions can be provocative by accident.
His comment was a provocation, though he hadn't meant to offend.
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Video examples
The mad scientist of...
I renamed all the stations to abstract musical provocations, and the players, who are synchronized with stopwatches, follow the timetables, which are listed in minutes past the hour. So this is a case of actually adapting something, or maybe stealing something, and then turning it into a musical notation. Another adaptation would be this piece.
Video examples
A choreographer's...
mother that was a second the second way working the first one body to body transfer yeah with an outside mental architecture that I work with that they hold memory with for me the second one which is using them as objects to think with their architectural objects I do a series of provocations I say if this
Video examples
Why we get mad -- and...
that anger is probably not the only thing we're feeling in these situations. Anger doesn't happen in a vacuum. We can feel angry at the same time that we're scared or sad, or feeling a host of other emotions. But here's the these provocations -- they aren't making us mad. At least not on their own,
Video examples
Why "biofabrication" is...
The provocation was that instead of growing a plant, like cotton, in a field over several months, we could use microbes to grow a similar cellulose material in a lab in a few days. Using a certain species of bacteria in a nutrient-rich liquid,
Video examples
My life as a professional...
context with the outside world and this photograph shows how that style of jump was actually done and how it looks from the outside now some may say there is a dangerous provocation with this kind of video pushing people participants and
Video examples
Is war between China and...
So how does this work? What happens is, a third party's provocation forces one or the other to react, and that sets in motion a spiral, which drags the two somewhere they don't want to go. If that seems crazy, it is. But it's life.
Video examples
Roxane Gay: Confessions...
and then in interviews, people started calling me The Bad Feminist. So, what started as a bit of an inside joke with myself and a willful provocation, has become a thing. Let me take a step back. When I was younger,
Video examples
Simba Under Attack PIPE ...
but they're already sizing each other up. Simba has age and experience on his side, but these young challengers look supremely confident. Roaring in another lion's territory is the ultimate act of provocation.
Video examples
How the worst moments in...
and out for a hot fudge sundae. When I was in seventh grade, one of the kids on my school bus nicknamed me "Percy," as a shorthand for my demeanor. And sometimes, he and his cohort would chant that provocation
Video examples
Rabid Vampires PIPE...
under the influence of rabies even docile animals often become dangerously aggressive and bite without provocation since the virus often concentrates in the saliva of the infected animal a
Video examples
The mad scientist of...
I renamed all the stations to abstract musical provocations, and the players, who are synchronized with stopwatches, follow the timetables, which are listed in minutes past the hour. So this is a case of actually adapting something, or maybe stealing something, and then turning it into a musical notation. Another adaptation would be this piece.
Video examples
A choreographer's...
mother that was a second the second way working the first one body to body transfer yeah with an outside mental architecture that I work with that they hold memory with for me the second one which is using them as objects to think with their architectural objects I do a series of provocations I say if this
Video examples
Why we get mad -- and...
that anger is probably not the only thing we're feeling in these situations. Anger doesn't happen in a vacuum. We can feel angry at the same time that we're scared or sad, or feeling a host of other emotions. But here's the these provocations -- they aren't making us mad. At least not on their own,
Video examples
Why "biofabrication" is...
The provocation was that instead of growing a plant, like cotton, in a field over several months, we could use microbes to grow a similar cellulose material in a lab in a few days. Using a certain species of bacteria in a nutrient-rich liquid,
Video examples
My life as a professional...
context with the outside world and this photograph shows how that style of jump was actually done and how it looks from the outside now some may say there is a dangerous provocation with this kind of video pushing people participants and
Video examples
Is war between China and...
So how does this work? What happens is, a third party's provocation forces one or the other to react, and that sets in motion a spiral, which drags the two somewhere they don't want to go. If that seems crazy, it is. But it's life.
Video examples
Roxane Gay: Confessions...
and then in interviews, people started calling me The Bad Feminist. So, what started as a bit of an inside joke with myself and a willful provocation, has become a thing. Let me take a step back. When I was younger,
Video examples
Simba Under Attack PIPE ...
but they're already sizing each other up. Simba has age and experience on his side, but these young challengers look supremely confident. Roaring in another lion's territory is the ultimate act of provocation.
Video examples
How the worst moments in...
and out for a hot fudge sundae. When I was in seventh grade, one of the kids on my school bus nicknamed me "Percy," as a shorthand for my demeanor. And sometimes, he and his cohort would chant that provocation
Video examples
Rabid Vampires PIPE...
under the influence of rabies even docile animals often become dangerously aggressive and bite without provocation since the virus often concentrates in the saliva of the infected animal a
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Nicholas Kristof
American Journalist
Our world is enriched when coders and marketers dazzle us with smartphones and tablets, but, by themselves, they are just slabs. It is the music, essays, entertainment and provocations that they access, spawned by the humanities, that animate them - and us.
Quote examples
George Konrad
Hungarian Novelist
You take a number of small steps which you believe are right, thinking maybe tomorrow somebody will treat this as a dangerous provocation. And then you wait. If there is no reaction, you take another step: courage is only an accumulation of small steps.
Quote examples
Greg Graffin
American Musician
Academic scientists aren't generally interested in books for the public. So when one comes out, the authors can't expect much praise from scientists. My goal both as a singer and an instructor is to educate through provocation and entertainment.
Quote examples
Garry Trudeau
American Cartoonist
For the most part, editors no longer view 'Doonesbury' as a rolling provocation, which is fine by me. It makes no sense to intentionally antagonize the very people on whose support you most depend.
Quote examples
Maurizio Cattelan
Italian Artist
Provocations are like a Molotov cocktail. They only work one time out of ten, but when it works, it can also be dangerous for the arm that is throwing it. It's the price that has to be paid.
Quote examples
Garry Kasparov
Celebrity
I have some security that could protect me against provocations but of course there are more terrible actions that could not be stopped by any security.
Quote examples
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Roman Statesman
Those wars are unjust which are undertaken without provocation. For only a war waged for revenge or defense can be just.
Quote examples
John Tillotson
British Theologian
To be able to bear provocation is an argument of great reason, and to forgive it of a great mind.
Quote examples
Ang Lee
Chinese Director
A movie is really provocation. It's not a message, it's not a statement.
Quote examples
David Dellinger
My position has always been to avoid violence to avoid provocation.
Quote examples
Nicholas Kristof
American Journalist
Our world is enriched when coders and marketers dazzle us with smartphones and tablets, but, by themselves, they are just slabs. It is the music, essays, entertainment and provocations that they access, spawned by the humanities, that animate them - and us.
Quote examples
George Konrad
Hungarian Novelist
You take a number of small steps which you believe are right, thinking maybe tomorrow somebody will treat this as a dangerous provocation. And then you wait. If there is no reaction, you take another step: courage is only an accumulation of small steps.
Quote examples
Greg Graffin
American Musician
Academic scientists aren't generally interested in books for the public. So when one comes out, the authors can't expect much praise from scientists. My goal both as a singer and an instructor is to educate through provocation and entertainment.
Quote examples
Garry Trudeau
American Cartoonist
For the most part, editors no longer view 'Doonesbury' as a rolling provocation, which is fine by me. It makes no sense to intentionally antagonize the very people on whose support you most depend.
Quote examples
Maurizio Cattelan
Italian Artist
Provocations are like a Molotov cocktail. They only work one time out of ten, but when it works, it can also be dangerous for the arm that is throwing it. It's the price that has to be paid.
Quote examples
Garry Kasparov
Celebrity
I have some security that could protect me against provocations but of course there are more terrible actions that could not be stopped by any security.
Quote examples
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Roman Statesman
Those wars are unjust which are undertaken without provocation. For only a war waged for revenge or defense can be just.
Quote examples
John Tillotson
British Theologian
To be able to bear provocation is an argument of great reason, and to forgive it of a great mind.
Quote examples
Ang Lee
Chinese Director
A movie is really provocation. It's not a message, it's not a statement.
Quote examples
David Dellinger
My position has always been to avoid violence to avoid provocation.
Example 1 of 10
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