Meanings
plural incitements · alternative encitement
- A call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal way.
The sheriff was constantly goading me into shooting trespassers, which should surely count as incitement at the very least.
2 more examples
Another element in the incitement, however unwitting, was political.
2019 April 12, Roger Cohen, “The Incitement in Israel That Killed Yitzhak Rabin”, in The New York TimesIn 2019, the F.B.I. cited QAnon as one of the dangerous conspiracy theories posing domestic terrorist threats to the United States and cited past incitements of violence from its adherents.
2020 April 8, Charlie Warzel, “Is QAnon the Most Dangerous Conspiracy Theory of the 21st Century?”, in The New York Times
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan act of urging on or spurring on or rousing to action or instigating
nounsomething that incites or provokes; a means of arousing or stirring to action
nounthe act of exhorting; an earnest attempt at persuasion
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinincitāmentum“incentive; incitement”
- Frenchincitement
- Englishincitement
From French incitement, from Latin incitāmentum (“incentive; incitement”), from incitō (“urge; quicken; incite”, verb). Equivalent to incite + -ment.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَحْرِيض
- تَحْرِيض (taḥrīḍ)a call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Bulgarian подбу́да, подстрека́телство
- подбу́да (podbúda)a call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- подстрека́телство (podstrekátelstvo)a call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Catalan incitació
- incitacióa call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Chinese Mandarin 煽動 /煽动
- 煽動 /煽动 (shāndòng)a call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Czech pobuřování, podněcování
- pobuřovánía call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- podněcovánía call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Dutch opruiing, aansporing
- opruiinga call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- aansporinga call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Finnish kehottaminen, yllyttäminen
- kehottaminena call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- yllyttäminena call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- kiihottaminena call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
French incitation, instigation
- incitationa call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- instigationa call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
German Anstiftung, Verhetzung
- Anstiftunga call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- Verhetzunga call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Hungarian felbujtás
- felbujtása call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Italian incitamento, istigazione
- incitamentoa call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- istigazionea call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Japanese 扇動
- 扇動 (sendō)a call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Korean 선동
- 선동 (seondong)a call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Latin incitamentum, calcar
- incitamentuma call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- calcara call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Māori kaikaiwaiūtanga
- kaikaiwaiūtangaa call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Persian تحریک
- تحریک (tahrik)a call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Polish podżeganie, podburzanie
- podżeganiea call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- podburzaniea call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Portuguese incitação, incitamento
- incitaçãoa call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- incitamentoa call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Romanian incitare, incitație
- incitarea call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- incitațiea call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
- stârnirea call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Russian подстрека́тельство
- подстрека́тельство (podstrekátelʹstvo)a call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Slovak podnecovanie
- podnecovaniea call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Spanish incitación
- incitacióna call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Ukrainian підбу́рювання
- підбу́рювання (pidbúrjuvannja)a call to act; encouragement to act, often in an illegal fashion
Cite this entry
incitement. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incitement
“incitement.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incitement. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “incitement,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incitement.
Source: incitement on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.