Provocation

//ˌpɹɑvəˈkeɪʃən// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of provoking, inciting or annoying someone into doing something. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    unfriendly behavior that causes anger or resentment wordnet
  3. 3
    Something that provokes; a provocative act. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    needed encouragement wordnet
  5. 5
    The second step in OPQRST regarding the investigation of what makes the symptoms MOI or NOI improve or deteriorate. countable, uncountable

    "When it's time to check for provocation, ask the patient about what makes their chief complaint better or worse."

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  1. 6
    something that incites or provokes; a means of arousing or stirring to action wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
incitementaffrontaggravationaggravationagitationamplification

Example

More examples

"The band of Indians were ready to go on the warpath at the slightest provocation."

Etymology

From Middle English provocacioun, from Old French provocacion, from Late Latin prōvocātiō, prōvocātiōnem, from Latin prōvocō. Doublet of provokatsiya.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.