Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Tending to provoke or stimulate.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate; exciting; apt to incense or enrage: as, provocative threats.
- noun Anything that tends to excite appetite or passion; a stimulant.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate; exciting.
- noun Anything that is provocative; a stimulant.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Serving or tending to
provoke ,excite , orstimulate ;exciting . - noun Anything that
provokes ; astimulant ; as, a provocative ofappetite .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective exciting sexual desire
- adjective serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate; stimulating discussion or exciting controversy
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The United States, South Korea and Japan have expressed reluctance to talk with North Korea at the present time, fearing that would reward Pyongyang for what they call provocative behavior.
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The United States, South Korea and Japan have expressed reluctance to talk with North Korea, concerned that doing so would seen as rewarding Pyongyang for what they call provocative behavior.
North Korea Condemns US, Japan, South Korea for Forming 'Alliance' 2010
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The United States, South Korea and Japan have expressed reluctance to talk with North Korea at the present time, fearing that would reward Pyongyang for what they call provocative behavior.
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And, in fact, they have been delivering some tough talk here at the administration, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemning North Korea for what she called provocative and belligerent threats.
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemning North Korea for what she called provocative and belligerent threats.
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Chen, she said, has taken what she characterized as a provocative and belligerent stance toward mainland China, all for his personal political gain, in hopes that he can be hailed as the savior who stands up to Communist China.
Archive 2006-04-01 Michael Turton 2006
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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today said it would be what she called a provocative act.
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If you look at beach populations, generally, you will find males travel out further from shore and are involved in more of what we refer to as provocative activities than are females.
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Israeli government to take all possible measures to prevent an escalation of tension following what it termed provocative actions of a small group of Israeli settlers who established an unauthorised settlement in East Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives
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The special representative in South Africa of the Organisation of African Unity, Legwaila J Legwaila, on Monday rejected what he called the provocative linkage that gave the impression the
seanahan commented on the word provocative
In my morning haze, I just read this as "pro-voke-ativ", which I guess would mean the same thing, and actually be more clear.
September 10, 2007