- (transitive) to stir up or provoke to action
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
in•cite /ɪnˈsaɪt/USA pronunciation
v., -cit•ed, -cit•ing.
in•cit•er, n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to stimulate to action;
stir up: [~ + object]sentenced for inciting a riot.[~ + object + to + verb]The union incited the workers to strike.
in•cit•er, n. [countable]
in•cite
(in sīt′),USA pronunciation v.t., -cit•ed, -cit•ing.
in•cit′a•ble, adj.
in•cit′ant, adj., n.
in•ci•ta•tion
(in′sī tā′shən, -si-),USA pronunciation n.
in•cit′er, n.
in•cit′ing•ly, adv.
- to stir, encourage, or urge on; stimulate or prompt to action:to incite a crowd to riot.
- Latin incitāre, equivalent. to in- in-2 + citāre to start up, excite; see cite
- 1475–85
in•cit′ant, adj., n.
in•cit′ing•ly, adv.
- instigate, provoke, goad, spur, arouse, exhort; fire; induce. Incite, rouse, provoke, inflame are verbs meaning to goad or inspire an individual or a group to take some action or to express some feeling. Incite and rouse are similar in that, although they can imply in some contexts abrasive or inflammatory arousal of violent or uncontrolled behavior, neither necessarily does so. Incite means simply to induce activity, of whatever kind:incited to greater effort by encouragement; incited to riot.Rouse has an underlying sense of awakening:to rouse the apathetic soldiers to a determination to win; to rouse the inattentive public to an awareness of the danger.Provoke implies a sense of challenge or irritation along with arousal and often suggests a resultant anger or violence:provoked by scathing references to his accomplishments; to provoke a wave of resentment.Inflame, with its root sense to set afire, implies a resultant intensity and passion:to inflame a mob by fiery speeches; He was inflamed to rage by constant frustration.
- discourage.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
incite /ɪnˈsaɪt/ vb
'incite' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
actuate
- egg
- entice
- flesh
- goad
- halloo
- incentive
- instigate
- instinct
- provoke
- put up
- raise
- set on
- solicit
- sool
- sting
- stir
- suborn
- agent provocateur
- animate
- arouse
- bloody shirt
- burn
- castigate
- cheer
- foment
- hallo
- hortative
- hound
- impel
- incitement
- incur
- induce
- inflame
- influence
- kindle
- motivate
- move
- nonincitement
- pique
- prod
- prompt
- put
- red flag
- reincite
- rouse
- tempt
- treason
- urge
- whet