provocative
pro·vo·ca·tive
adjective
1.
serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate; stimulating discussion or exciting controversy
- “a provocative remark”
- “a provocative smile”
- “provocative Irish tunes which...compel the hearers to dance” Anthony Trollope
Origin
Borrowed from Middle French provocatif, and its source, Late Latin provocativus, from Latin provocare.
Related words
Word family
See also
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.