provocation
prov·o·ca·tion/ˌpɹɑvəˈkeɪʃən/noun
provocation is spelled P-R-O-V-O-C-A-T-I-O-N, 4 syllables: prov·o·ca·tion. The wrong spelling people search most is provacation: about 110 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 14 of all searches for the word. Provocation is a noun meaning “The act of provoking, inciting or annoying someone into doing something”. The plural of provocation is provocations.
How many letters and syllables are in provocation?
| Letters | 11: P-R-O-V-O-C-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: prov·o·ca·tion |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,651st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, provacation, about 110 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell provocation?
Provocation is spelled P-R-O-V-O-C-A-T-I-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 14 of the searches for provocation in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is provocation?
Provocation appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st 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 provocation?
- US /ˌpɹɑvəˈkeɪʃən/
- UK /ˌpɹɒvəˈkeɪʃən/
Provocation has 4 syllables, split prov·o·ca·tion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-provocation.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with provocation?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as provocation from its last stressed vowel (/eɪʃən/):
- situation
- association
- population
- administration
- operation
- organization
- application
- location
- generation
- foundation
- conversation
- investigation
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of provocation
- provocations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does provocation mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of provoking, inciting or annoying someone into doing something.
- 2
Something that provokes; a provocative act.
- 3
The second step in OPQRST regarding the investigation of what makes the symptoms MOI or NOI improve or deteriorate.
When it's time to check for provocation, ask the patient about what makes their chief complaint better or worse.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Provocation in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act of provoking:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | provocation |
| German | Provokation |
| Portuguese | provocação |
| Spanish | provocación |
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 provocation come from?
From Middle English provocacioun, from Old French provocacion, from Late Latin prōvocātiō, prōvocātiōnem, from Latin prōvocō. By surface analysis, provoke + -ation. Doublet of provokatsiya.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).