Some words calm things down; these ten stir things up. They describe starting trouble, urging people on, waking them up and feeding feelings until they grow. Several are verbs of motion at heart: agitate means to shake, stoke means to feed a fire, and a goad and a spur were both pointed tools for driving animals forward.
Key idea
Stirring up trouble: provoke, incite (urge people on), instigate (start it), foment (keep it brewing), agitate (shake up; upset). Urging on: goad (push, often by teasing), spur (urge to go faster or harder), rouse (wake or stir up). Feeding or causing: stoke (add fuel), engender (give rise to).
The ten words
Common mistake
foment (stir up trouble) is not ferment, though both suggest bubbling. incite (urge on) is not insight (understanding).
| word | what it stirs | you might hear |
|---|---|---|
| provoke | a reaction, often anger | provoke a fight |
| incite | people, to trouble | incite a riot |
| instigate | the start of something | instigate a prank |
| foment | trouble that keeps brewing | foment unrest |
| agitate | a liquid, a person, a cause | agitated parents |
| goad | a person, by teasing or prodding | goaded into it |
| spur | a person, to go faster or harder | spurred to action |
| rouse | a sleeper; a crowd | a rousing speech |
| stoke | a fire; a feeling | stoke the flames |
| engender | a feeling or result | engender trust |
Two sound-alike traps. Foment (stir up trouble) is not ferment (to bubble, as yeast does), though both suggest something bubbling up. And incite (urge on) is not insight (deep understanding). Notice, too, that engender and spur often describe good things: kindness engenders trust, and good news spurs people to act.