instigator
in·sti·gat·or/ˈɪnstəˌɡeɪtɚ/noun
instigator is spelled I-N-S-T-I-G-A-T-O-R: 10 letters and 4 syllables (in·sti·gat·or). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,663rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, instigator means “A person who intentionally instigates, incites, or starts something, especially one that creates trouble” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of instigator is instigators.
How many letters and syllables are in instigator?
| Letters | 10: I-N-S-T-I-G-A-T-O-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: in·sti·gat·or |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 43,663rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is instigator?
Instigator appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,663rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce instigator?
- UK /ˈɪnstɪɡeɪtə/
- US /ˈɪnstəˌɡeɪtɚ/
- US /-ɾɚ/
Instigator has 4 syllables, split in·sti·gat·or in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-instigator.ogg, En-au-instigator.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of instigator
- instigators plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does instigator mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A person who intentionally instigates, incites, or starts something, especially one that creates trouble.
Near-synonyms: see Thesaurus:troublemaker
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Instigator in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense person who intentionally instigates something:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | instigateur, instigatrice, incitateur, incitatrice |
| German | Anstifter, Anstifterin, Aufwiegler, Aufwieglerin |
| Portuguese | instigador, incitadora, instigante |
| Spanish | instigador, instigadora, incitador, incitadora |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does instigator come from?
From Latin īnstīgātor (“stimulator”), from īnstīgāre (present infinitive of īnstīgō (“to incite, set on, stimulate, rouse or urge”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp, to stab; to puncture; to goad”)) + -or (from -ō (suffix forming masculine agent nouns), from Proto-Indo-European *-h₃onh₂- (suffix forming nouns denoting authority or burden)); cognate with French instigateur. By surface analysis, instigate + -or.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).