the.com/instigator
The one who lit the match, then asked who smells smoke.
means Someone who deliberately stirs up trouble or sets an action in motion, usually while keeping their own hands looking clean.
from From Latin instigare, 'to urge on, incite, goad' — built from the intensive prefix in- plus a root related to stig-, the same base found in 'stimulate' and 'instinct,' all circling the idea of pricking or pointing something forward. The Romans used it for goading animals or people into motion; English borrowed it in the 1500s, and it kept its sting — an instigator doesn't just start things, they prod others into starting them.
- legal term
- Can be charged even without throwing a punch
- root
- latin instigare, to urge or goad
- social role
- starts things, rarely finishes them
- classic move
- whispers the idea, lets someone else say it