provocative
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French provocatif, and its source, Late Latin provocativus, from Latin provocare.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /pɹəˈvɒk.ə.tɪv/
- (General American) IPA(key): /pɹəˈvɑk.ə.tɪv/
Related terms
Translations
tending to provoke strong negative feeling
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tending to arouse sexual interest
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Noun
provocative (plural provocatives)
- (obsolescent) Something that provokes an appetite, especially a sexual appetite; an aphrodisiac. [from 15th c.]
- 1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of the Life of Sally Salisbury:
- She used by way of Provocative, to read the wanton Verses of her Paramour in the day time [...].
- 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., page 165:
- [A]nd that one great and all-important occasion and provocative of these beliefs was actually the rise of self-consciousness — that is, the coming of the mind to a more or less distinct awareness of itself and of its own operation, and the consequent development and growth of Individualism, and of the Self-centred attitude in human thought and action.
- 1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of the Life of Sally Salisbury:
Latin
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