incite

verb

1)

we're hoping that last night's incident will not incite altercations in the stadium today

Syn:

stir up, whip up, encourage, fan the flames of, stoke up, fuel, kindle, ignite, inflame, stimulate, instigate, provoke, excite, arouse, awaken, inspire, engender, trigger, spark off, ferment, foment; literary enkindle

Ant:

suppress

2)

she incited him to commit murder

Syn:

egg on, encourage, urge, goad, provoke, spur on, drive, stimulate, push, prod, prompt, induce, impel; arouse, rouse, excite, inflame, sting, prick; informal put up to

Ant:

discourage, deter

••

incite, arouse, exhort, foment, instigate, provoke

The best way to start a riot is to incite one, which means to urge or stimulate to action, either in a favorable or an unfavorable sense. If you instigate an action, however, it implies that you are responsible for initiating it and that the purpose is probably a negative or evil one (the man who instigated the assassination plot). Foment suggests agitation or incitement over an extended period of time (foment a discussion; foment the rebellion that leads to war). An instigator, in other words, is someone who initiates the idea, while a fomenter is someone who keeps it alive. You can provoke a riot in the same way that you instigate one, but the emphasis here is on spontaneity rather than on conscious design (her statement provoked an outcry from animal rights activists). To arouse is to awaken a feeling or elicit a response (my presence in the junkyard aroused suspicion), or to open people's eyes to a situation (we attempted to arouse public awareness). But once you've aroused people, you may have to exhort them, meaning to urge or persuade them, by appealing to their sympathy or conscience, to take constructive action.