Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INSTIGATE
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Once, when I was getting an oil change, I waited in a tiny room with one other girl.
She was on the phone, arguing with her phone service provider.
"We were in Europe for three weeks. We KNEW we would be out of the country. I CALLED you before the trip and I INSTIGATED this plan. I ALREADY INSTIGATED this coverage. And now you're trying to charge me a THOUSAND dollars, AFTER I INSTIGATED THE RATE BEFOREHAND."
This was an awkward situation, with her conversation so loud and the waiting room so tiny, but the most awkward part was me trying not to laugh.
She probably meant to say "institute," meaning "put in place." Or maybe "initiate," meaning "set up, begin." But she kept saying "instigate," meaning "stir up," as if her cell phone coverage overseas were some kind of violent uprising. With her tone of voice, all she was instigating was, probably, the representative's spiteful resistance to reversing the charges.
It's an easy group of words to mix up--institute literally means "stand in," or more loosely, "set up;" and initiate literally means "go in." But instigate literally means "prick in." It's a violent, poky, pricky kind of action.
Instigate is related--probably, we think--to other poky, pricky words like stick, stitch, stigma, and extinguish. You could even imagine that instigate means "in-stick-ate," to poke people until they do what you want, as if with a sharp stick.
Unlike its lovely synonym k_nd__, but very much like its ugly synonyms inc___ and fom___, the word instigate usually suggests the stirring up of something evil, violent, or treacherous: an uprising, a hateful crime, even a petty desire to deny help to an angry customer who takes out her frustrations on you on the phone.
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make your point with...
"INSTIGATE"
To instigate something--usually something bad--is to cause it or to stir it up, often by persuading people or by firing up their emotions.
Pronunciation:
IN stih gate
Part of speech:
Verb, the transitive kind: people and their actions instigate things.
Other forms:
Instigated, instigating, instigation.
The adjective is "instigative." (Say it "IN stih gay tiv.")
And the people who instigate things are usually called instigators, but they can also be called instigants.
If you're feeling saucy, you can call a female instigator an "instigatrix." Here's The Dublin Review: "Lady Macbeth, the instigatrix of the murder." That'd be a cool name for a sly female villain, right? The Instigatrix.
How to use it:
Pick this harsh, formal, commonly used word to talk about people, actions, decisions, and statements that instigate things--usually bad things, like conflicts, arguments, fights, attacks, violence, hatred, rebellion, etc.
Sometimes we'll say "they instigated them to do something," as in "They instigated the commoners to arm themselves against the government." And sometimes we'll say "they instigated them to that action," as in "They instigated the commoners to a rebellion."
examples:
"[Harvard professor Susan Benesch] coined the term 'dangerous speech' – meaning rhetoric that is used to turn one group of people violently against another – after years of studying speech used to instigate atrocities like the Holocaust."
— Lauren Aratani, The Guardian, 19 June 2019
"He is 'pretty satisfied' with his trip to the U.S. to instigate World War III. 'All in all, I think I accomplished my goal of pushing humanity toward the brink of complete and utter annihilation.'"
— The Onion, 28 September 2012
has this page helped you understand "instigate"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "instigate" without saying "prompt" or "provoke."
try it out:
Instigation can be a messy business. It's often accidental, uncontrollable, and hard to prove. When protests break out, or when one group turns on another, or when violence erupts, who or what instigated it? The answer might be complicated and endlessly debatable.
Keeping this in mind, think of a dramatic show or movie you've seen, or a dramatic novel you've read, and focus on an explosive event, like a dispute, an attack, a crime, or a sudden change. Talk about who or what you think instigated this event--and talk about why other fans might disagree.
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
This month, we're playing Name Those Synonyms!
We're enjoying the gracefully written, ultra-authoritative explanations in Funk & Wagnalls Standard Handbook of Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions. In each issue, check out the passage from the book, and see if you can figure out which synonyms are being distinguished.
From the previous issue: What three synonyms (<1>, <2>, and <3>) does the Handbook distinguish below?
"A person is <1> who impatiently desires to accomplish some end; he is <2> with a desire that is less impatient, but more deep, resolute, and constant; he is <3> with a desire that foresees rather the pain of disappointment than the delight of attainment. One is <1> for the gratification of any appetite or passion; he is <2> in conviction, purpose, or character. <1> usually refers to some specific and immediate satisfaction, <2> to something permanent and enduring; the patriotic soldier is <2> in his devotion to his country, <1> for a decisive battle."
Answers:
<1> is "eager."
<2> is "earnest."
<3> is "anxious."
Try this today: What four synonyms (<1>, <2>, <3>, and <4>) does the Handbook distinguish below?
Choose from the following word bank, which also includes words you won't use: dainty, delectable, delicious, delightful, exquisite, luscious, savory, yummy.
"That is <1> which affords a gratification at once vivid and delicate to the senses, especially to those of taste and smell, as, <1> fruit, a <1> odor; <2> has a kindred but more fulsome meaning, inclining toward a cloying excess of sweetness or richness. <3> is applied chiefly to cooked food made palatable by spices and condiments. <4> may be applied to the higher gratifications of sense, as <4> music, but is also used for that which is mental and spiritual."
Bonus challenge: Recall the fine differences among "harmony," "agreement," and "concord." You can view the answer in this issue.
review this word:
1. One opposite of INSTIGATE is
A. DERIVE.
B. LAMENT.
C. QUELL.
2. In Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, Dr. Alirio Noguera embarks on "a _____ campaign of instigation," telling his patients it's "a patriotic duty to _____ Conservatives."
A. hearty .. educate
B. stealthy .. assassinate
C. money-grubbing .. pay tributes to
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
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Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Once, when I was getting an oil change, I waited in a tiny room with one other girl.
"INSTIGATE" To instigate something--usually something bad--is to cause it or to stir it up, often by persuading people or by firing up their emotions.
"[Harvard professor Susan Benesch] coined the term 'dangerous speech' – meaning rhetoric that is used to turn one group of people violently against another – after years of studying speech used to instigate atrocities like the Holocaust."
Explain the meaning of "instigate" without saying "prompt" or "provoke."
Instigation can be a messy business. It's often accidental, uncontrollable, and hard to prove. When protests break out, or when one group turns on another, or when violence erupts, who or what instigated it? The answer might be complicated and endlessly debatable.
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. One opposite of INSTIGATE is
|