provocateur
"provocateur" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“provocateur” is uncommon English (frequency #54,415 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #54,415
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One who engages in provocative behavior.
Corpus desk
Index EN-provocateur · provocateur · English
provocateur · rank #54,415 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #54,415
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 46,516
- PHOTO-FINISH provable
Nearest frequency peer: provable (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “provocateur”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- prostatic
prostatic
45,589 corpus weight
- protrusion
protrusion
45,588 corpus weight
- provable
provable
45,587 corpus weight
- provocateur
provocateur
45,586 corpus weight
- psilocybin
psilocybin
45,585 corpus weight
- psychopatho…
psychopathology
45,584 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “provocateur” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | provocateur |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #54,415 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “provocateur” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
provocateur is uncommon English at frequency #54,415 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
provocateur has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French provocateur. Doublet of provocator. The correct English form is provocateur, spelled P-R-O-V-O-C-A-T-E-U-R.
Definition
- 1One who engages in provocative behavior.
- 2An undercover agent who incites suspected persons to partake in or commit criminal acts.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how provocateur appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Near-synonyms: provoker (sometimes synonymous), agitator
Gerard Mortier, an iconoclastic impresario and one of the opera world’s premier provocateurs, will become general manager and artistic director of the New York City Opera in 2009.
Etymology
Borrowed from French provocateur. Doublet of provocator.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "provocateur", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.