Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 13, 2024 is: instigate \IN-stuh-gayt\ verb

To instigate something is to cause it to happen or begin by urging or goading others. Instigate is a synonym of [provoke](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/provoke).

// The pair was accused of instigating a plot to oust the newly elected mayor.

[See the entry >]( https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/instigate)

Examples:

"The image of John, Paul, George and Ringo waving from the top steps of Pan Am Yankee Clipper flight 101 at 1.20pm on 7 February 1964 is among the most iconic in rock'n'roll history. … That aeroplane steps photo was pivotal in instigating a dynamic in rock music whereby boys played guitars to the wild adulation of girls, a misguided social 'norm' that became so deeply embedded in the music industry that we're only now beginning to untangle it." — Mark Beaumont, The Independent (London), 7 Feb. 2024

Did you know?

It's time to investigate the true meaning of instigate. Instigate is often used as a synonym of [incite](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incite) (as in "siblings instigating a fight"), but the two words differ slightly in their overall usage. Incite usually stresses an act of stirring something up that one did not necessarily initiate ("the court's decision incited riots"), while instigate implies responsibility for initiating or encouraging someone else's action, and usually suggests [dubious](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dubious) or underhanded intent ("he was charged with instigating a conspiracy"). Coming from a form of the Latin verb instigare ("to urge on or provoke"), instigate stepped into English in the 1500s, roughly a century after incite.