provocative
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provocative
- /pɹəˈvɒk.ə.tɪv/ UK
- /pɹəˈvɑ.kə.tɪv/ Canada, US
- [pɹəˈvɑ.kə.ɾɪv] Canada, US
- /pɹəˈvɔk.ə.tɪv/ Australia
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Middle French provocatif, and its source, Late Latin provocativus, from Latin provocare.
adjective more provocative · most provocative
-
Serving or tending to elicit a strong, often negative sentiment in another person; exasperating.
Similar: agitative
- Serving or tending to excite, stimulate or arouse sexual interest; sexy.
- Provoking or triggering any response. [I]t is a terrible long and slippery descent, and a shocking bad road. At the bottom, however, there is a pleasant public; whereat we must really take a modest quencher, for the down air is provocative of thirst.
noun provocatives
- Something that provokes an appetite, especially a sexual appetite; an aphrodisiac. She used by way of Provocative, to read the wanton Verses of her Paramour in the day time [...].
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: provoking, rabble-rousing, challenging, agitative, instigative, incitive, rousing, exciting, stimulating, intriguing, charged, seditious, sexy, inflammatory, incendiary, agitating
Translations
Every language
adj tending to provoke strong negative feeling
| Español | provocador, provocativo |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | उत्तेजक uttejak |
| Français | provocateur, provocatrice |
| Deutsch | provokant |
| Italiano | procace, attraente |
| Ελληνικά | προκλητικός proklitikós |
| Русский | провокацио́нный provokaciónnyj, провокати́вный provokatívnyj |
| العربية | مُسْتَفِز mustafiz |
adj tending to arouse sexual interest
| हिन्दी | उत्तेजक uttejak, कामुक kāmuk |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | προκλητικός proklitikós |
Talk about this word "provocative." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/provocative. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. provocative. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/provocative "provocative." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/provocative.Cite this
@misc{provocative_2026,
title = {provocative},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/provocative},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
