PROVOCATION in a Sentence

Learn PROVOCATION from example sentences, some of them are from classic books. These examples are selected from a corpus with 300,000 sentences, including classic works and current mainstream media. Some sentences also link to their contexts.

For PROVOCATION, below is one of 33 sentences:
The world looks on with wonder that we have conceded so much and remain law-abiding under such great outrage and provocation.

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 Meanings and Examples of PROVOCATION
Definition Example Sentence Classic Sentence
provocation
 n.  unfriendly behavior that causes anger or resentment; aggravation
Classic Sentence: (20 in 2 pages)
1  We were sitting at a table with a man of about my age and a rowdy little girl who gave way upon the slightest provocation to uncontrollable laughter.
The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald
Context  Highlight   In Chapter 3
2  Elinor kept her concern and her censure to herself; and was very thankful that Marianne was not present, to share the provocation.
Sense and Sensibility By Jane Austen
Context  Highlight   In CHAPTER 33
3  John Dashwood was greatly astonished; but his nature was calm, not open to provocation, and he never wished to offend anybody, especially anybody of good fortune.
Sense and Sensibility By Jane Austen
Context  Highlight   In CHAPTER 37
4  Being, by that time, rather tired of this kind of life, and having received new provocation from the butcher, I throw the flower away, go out with the butcher, and gloriously defeat him.
David Copperfield By Charles Dickens
Context  Highlight   In CHAPTER 18. A RETROSPECT
5  The slightest provocation, even being asked if there is anything he would prefer for dinner, causes him to express a wish for a separation.
David Copperfield By Charles Dickens
Context  Highlight   In CHAPTER 49. I AM INVOLVED IN MYSTERY
6  It's all a question of the degree of provocation.
Arms and the Man By George Bernard Shaw
Context  Highlight   In ACT III
7  I never gave her the slightest provocation.
Pygmalion By George Bernard Shaw
Context  Highlight   In ACT V
8  I was brought up to be just like him, unable to control myself, and using bad language on the slightest provocation.
Pygmalion By George Bernard Shaw
Context  Highlight   In ACT V
9  She snaps his head off on the faintest provocation, or on none.
Pygmalion By George Bernard Shaw
Context  Highlight   In ACT V
10  She had a heart which fluttered at any excitement and she pampered it shamelessly, fainting at any provocation.
Gone With The Wind By Margaret Mitche
Context  Highlight   In CHAPTER VIII
11  No one, for instance, could have made a more typical Goya than Carry Fisher, with her short dark-skinned face, the exaggerated glow of her eyes, the provocation of her frankly-painted smile.
House of Mirth By Edith Wharton
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 1: Chapter 12
12  The world looks on with wonder that we have conceded so much and remain law-abiding under such great outrage and provocation.
Southern Horrors By Ida B. Wells-Barnett
Context  Highlight   In VII
13  True; but I have been tossed to and fro in doubt if I ought, after such strong provocation.
Return of the Native By Thomas Hardy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 5: 6 Thomasin Argues with Her Cousin, and He Writes a Letter
14  Now, look here, Captain Crocker, this is a very serious matter, though I am willing to admit that you acted under the most extreme provocation to which any man could be subjected.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ABBEY GRANGE
15  I don't wish to get cross, so let's change the subject; and Jo looked quite ready to fling cold water on the slightest provocation.
Little Women By Louisa May Alcott
Context  Highlight   In CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Example Sentence:
1  Beyond the verge of provocation I never ventured; on the extreme brink I liked well to try my skill.
2  It urges the immediate cessation of all acts of violence, provocation, incitement and destruction, and calls upon to return to negotiations.
3  The bully was initially truculent but eventually stopped picking fights at the least provocation.
4  The victim's conduct had involved an element of provocation.
5  This book is designed to be provocative rather than a watertight piece of economic analysis.
6  His provocative words only fuelled the argument further.
7  His behavior was called provocative and antisocial.
8  He doesn't really mean that—he's just being deliberately provocative.
9  The minister's provocative remarks were widely reported in the press.
10  He has made a string of outspoken and sometimes provocative speeches in recent years.
11  Even more provocative is the promise of a Russian nuclear power plant for Venezuela.
12  It was a far cry from the look she cultivated when she first appeared on the fashion scene typically dressed in a punkish, provocative mixture of men's and women's wear. “I had fun with androgyny, I had fun being rock ‘n' roll,” she said.
13  So far the police have refused to respond to their provocations.