fomenters
Those inciting trouble
Fomenters are people who stir up trouble or incite unrest.
The word carries a negative connotation—one foments rebellion, discord, or violence, rarely anything positive.
The government blamed foreign fomenters for the protests.
He was known as a fomenter of division within the party.
Those who initiate trouble
- rabble-rousersThose inciting public disorder
- incitersThose who urge action
- provocateursThose who incite discord
- troublemakersThose causing problems deliberately
firebrands · demagogues · hotheads · militants · extremists · zealots · fanatics · antagonists
Those seeking systemic overthrow
- insurgentsThose fighting established authority
- subversivesThose undermining established systems
- radicalsAdvocates for fundamental change
- anarchistsOpponents of state authority
seditionists · mutineers · dissidents · resistance · guerrillas · partisans · secessionists · rebels
Tendency to create factions
- polarizationSeparation into opposing extremes
- factionGroup within group
- schismFormal organizational fracture
- riftCrack or estrangement
antagonism · strife · conflict · tension · friction · hostility · enmity · animosity
Those publicly opposing something
- strikersThose who cease work
- demonstratorsPublic protest participants
- riotersViolent public disorder participants
- boycottersThose refusing participation protest
picketers · marchers · occupiers · dissenters · activists · organizers · mobilizers · campaigners
instigators
Those who initiate trouble
- rabble-rousersThose inciting public disorder
- incitersThose who urge action
- provocateursThose who incite discord
troublemakers · firebrands · demagogues · hotheads · militants · extremists · zealots · fanatics · antagonists · disruptors
revolutionaries
Those seeking systemic overthrow
- insurgentsThose fighting established authority
- subversivesThose undermining established systems
- radicalsAdvocates for fundamental change
anarchists · seditionists · mutineers · dissidents · resistance · guerrillas · partisans · secessionists · rebels · underground
divisiveness
Tendency to create factions
- polarizationSeparation into opposing extremes
- factionGroup within group
- schismFormal organizational fracture
rift · antagonism · strife · conflict · tension · friction · hostility · enmity · animosity · provocation
protesters
Those publicly opposing something
- strikersThose who cease work
- demonstratorsPublic protest participants
- riotersViolent public disorder participants
boycotters · picketers · marchers · occupiers · dissenters · activists · organizers · mobilizers · campaigners · reformers
- negativistspessimists, defeatists, doomers, doomsayers, negative Nellies
fomenterspeacemakers
Those who resolve conflicts
pacifiers · reconcilers · mediators · peacekeepers · conciliators
fomentersstabilizers
Mechanisms ensuring steadiness
preservers · maintainers · conservatives · peacekeepers · suppressors
fomenterssoothers
Things providing comfort
calmers · pacifiers · tranquilizers · stabilizers · placaters