Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use provocation in a sentence

18 example sentences · noun

Provocation means the act of provoking, inciting or annoying someone into doing something. Example: “When it's time to check for provocation, ask the patient about what makes their chief complaint better or worse.”

Examples of provocation by meaning

nounThe 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.

More sentences with provocation

  • Anger is a natural response in humans to perceived or actual threat or provocation.From the entry perceived
  • The politicians would cry wolf at the slightest provocation so when the real threat appeared no one believed them.From the entry cry wolf
  • She is known to be bitingly sarcastic without provocation.From the entry bitingly
  • She vamps this month on the cover of British Vogue, a portrait of artfully crafted provocation.2021 May 4, Ruth La Ferla, “On That Bombshell Billie Eilish Cover for British Vogue”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry vamp
  • The corresponding anacrises are also developed (that is, provocation through discourse or plot situation).2009, Harold Bloom, Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky, →ISBN, page 46. From the entry anacrisis
  • China accused Vietnam today of more armed border provocations in the last 10 days of July.1979 August 5 [1979 August 4], en, “China Charges Vietnam Gunfire”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company…. From the entry Dongxing
  • There is something about 5- and 6-year-olds that makes them ever-ready to pose with the big, cheesy grin with no provocation.2012, Ginny Felch, Photographing Children Photo Workshop. From the entry cheesy
  • Provocation develops when the 'communicative contract' between the clothing and the consumer is broken, resulting in shocked rejection or euphoric acceptance.2009, Ingrid Loschek, “When is Creativity?”, in Lucinda Rennison, transl., When Clothes become Fashion: Design and Innovation Systems…. From the entry obscene
  • Like the great eighteenth-century courtesans of Europe, she knew who and what she was and turned wanton provocation into an art.2002, Donald Richie, The Inland Sea, Stone Bridge Press, page 192. From the entry oiran
  • Her career as a performer, a model and a high priestess of the outré has been rooted for decades in catwalk-Kabuki mischief and provocation.2015 October 22, Jeff Gordinier, “‘I’ll Never Write My Memoirs,’ Grace Jones’s Memoirs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry outré
  • Of course his complicated financial dealings must have been a direct provocation to the IRS, a red flag in front of a bull.2008, John Calvert, Another Sort of Life. From the entry red flag in front of a bull
  • S. air intrusion," Peking radio announced, "A spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry has been authorized, in relation to the military provocation by U.1971 August 6, Robert S. Allen, “U. S. Studying To Ease New Tension With Taiwan”, in The Farmville Herald, volume 81, number 92, →ISSN…. From the entry insolently
  • I was passing the corner of Second and Main when, without provocation of any sort on my part, I was suddenly assaulted by two hoodla.1971, Isaac Asimov, Treasury of Humor, Houghton Mifflin Company, page 177. From the entry hoodla
  • The US President himself accused Iran of being behind the provocation, threatening airstrikes on Iran last week – but calling them off just minutes before they were to begin.2019 June 26, Frederik Pleitgen, Eliza Mackintosh, “US is ‘not in a position to obliterate Iran,’ Iranian foreign minister says”, in CNN…. From the entry Iran
  • A genre of “ultimate questions of worldview,” it features internal and external dialogue, including the anacrisis or provocation of a word by others' words, and a utopian vision.2010, P Fambrough, “Ionesco's Rhinocéros and the Menippean Tradition”, in Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature, volume 34, number 1. From the entry anacrisis
  • Repeat of the cringily captivating series in which candid cameras reveal how holidaymakers from different countries react to a series of provocations, raging from petty larceny to full-frontal nudity.1999 May 13, “Television Guide”, in Evening Standard, London, page 40. From the entry cringily
  • Cleverly he'd chosen four who not only strip themselves at the slightest provocation to enjoy a cold air bath but are free of the usual licentious habits of such types.2014, Greg Hollingshead, Bedlam: A Novel of Love and Madness. From the entry air bath

Meaning of provocation

  1. noun The act of provoking, inciting or annoying someone into doing something.
  2. noun Something that provokes; a provocative act.
  3. noun The second step in OPQRST regarding the investigation of what makes the symptoms MOI or NOI improve or deteriorate.

Full definition of provocation

Questions about provocation in a sentence

How do you use provocation in a sentence?
Provocation is used as a noun. For example: “When it's time to check for provocation, ask the patient about what makes their chief complaint better or worse.”
What is a short sentence with provocation?
“She is known to be bitingly sarcastic without provocation.”
What does provocation mean?
Provocation means the act of provoking, inciting or annoying someone into doing something.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: provocation (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.

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