Instigation
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The act of instigating, or the state of being instigated; incitement; especially to evil or wickedness. countable, uncountable
"The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity."
- 2 deliberate and intentional triggering (of trouble or discord) wordnet
- 3 the verbal act of urging on wordnet
Example
More examples"The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity."
Etymology
From Middle English instigacioun, from Old French instigacïon and Latin instīgātio.
More for "instigation"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.