How to use instigate in a sentence

18 example sentences · verb

Instigate means to bring about by urging or encouraging. Example: “In light of growing outrage against Mecham, House special counsel William French instigated an investigation into the governor's affairs last fall.”

Examples of instigate by meaning

verbTo bring about by urging or encouraging.

to instigate a riot
to instigate a change
In light of growing outrage against Mecham, House special counsel William French instigated an investigation into the governor's affairs last fall.1988 February 14, Elizabeth Pincus, “Arizona Impeaches Right-Wing Governor”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 30, page 1

verbTo goad or urge (a person) forward, especially to wicked actions.

to instigate someone to a crime

More sentences with instigate

Dramatic sudden changes instigate resistance and even anger in many individuals.2010, Anne [Elizabeth] Makzulak, “Green Biotechnology”, in Sustainability: Building Eco-friendly Communities (Green Technology), New York…. From the entry boiling frog
The person instigating the conflict always seeks power in some form.2004, Erik A. Fisher, Steven W. Sharp, “The Players”, in The Art of Managing Everyday Conflict: Understanding Emotions and Power…. From the entry instigator
We had the doubtful privilege of being spectators of two such raids, both instigated by girls.1966, Jonathan Aitken, Michael Beloff, A Short Walk on the Campus, page 104. From the entry pantie
Apple’s mistake in instigating a patent war with Samsung is illustrative of a larger pattern involving large stockpiles of patents.2014 July 4, Evan Jensen, “The Patent Wars”, in Lexology. From the entry never fight a land war in Asia
The furor instigated by the war in Vietnam was projected into fraternity bull sessions and Ballantine coffee breaks.1968, Arbutus, page 56. From the entry deathlock
Continued upbowing instigated persistent movement along these fractures.1960, Edward Wisser, Relation of Ore Deposition to Doming in the North American Cordillera, page 45. From the entry upbow
By unwittingly I mean not knowing that the whole program was controlled and dominated and instigated by the Communist Party.1955 June 27, Gordon H[arry] Scherer (questioner), “Testimony of Mrs. Anita Bell Schneider”, in Investigation of Communist Activities in…. From the entry unwittingly
The revamp was instigated by Justice League artist Mike Sekowsky, who had Wonder Woman renounce her powers so she could stay on Earth.2007, Christopher Knowles, “The Amazons”, in Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes, San Francisco, Calif.: Weiser…. From the entry revamp
One must also question whether the situational context, instigating stimulus, and operational definition of aggressive response have any relevance to the experimental animal under investigation.1985, Cannie Stark-Adamec, Robert E[dward] Adamec, “Problems in Aggression Research: An Introduction”, in Paula J[oan] Caplan, editor…. From the entry muricide
It instigates, begins, leaves off, and then continues, rousiag to action the hearer’s innate need of an aim and an order and meaning in things.1970, David Ewen, From Bach to Stravinsky: The History of music by Its Foremost Critics, AMS Press, page 300. From the entry quintessentiality
Far more dangerous than crimes of passion are the crimes of idealism—the crimes which are instigated, fostered and moralized by hallowed words.1952, Aldous Huxley, chapter 11, in The Devils of Loudun, New York: Harper & Row, page 301. From the entry moralize
Month after month law-suits, instigated by the grasping white man against the helpless Indian are decided in favor of the mightly and unscrupulous white.1902, The Capital, volumes 15-17, page 2. From the entry mightly
It’s fair to say that psychologists haven’t exactly figured out a way around kleptomnesia, and maybe Melania Trump’s speech might instigate research into this fuzzy area.2016 July 19, Tanya Basu, “Melania Trump's Speechwriters Apparently Suffer From Kleptomnesia”, in Inverse, archived from the original on…. From the entry kleptomnesia
In the view of such officers as Dharsono, the disproportionate number of Siliwangi officers was both a result of, and a protest against, a “de-Siliwangi-ization” process instigated by Suharto.2010, David Jenkins, Suharto and His Generals: Indonesian Military Politics, 1975-1983, page 201. From the entry -ization

Meaning of instigate

verb To bring about by urging or encouraging.
verb To goad or urge (a person) forward, especially to wicked actions.

Full definition of instigate

Questions about instigate in a sentence

How do you use instigate in a sentence?: Instigate is used as a verb. For example: “In light of growing outrage against Mecham, House special counsel William French instigated an investigation into the governor's affairs last fall.”
What is a short sentence with instigate?: “to instigate a change”
What does instigate mean?: Instigate means to bring about by urging or encouraging.

Adapted from Wiktionary: instigate (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use instigate in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/instigate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.