Meanings
-
1
noun
a person who vigorously stirs others into political or social action, often a disapproving label for a protest organizer
Officials dismissed the labor organizer as an agitator, but workers regarded her as their elected advocate.
-
2
noun
a device or mechanism that shakes, stirs, or mixes a substance
The tank's agitator kept the pigment evenly suspended in the liquid.
-
3
noun
historical: an elected representative of rank-and-file soldiers in the English New Model Army during the 1640s
Each regiment selected an Agitator to present the soldiers' political and financial grievances.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Latin agitator, 'driver or mover,' from agitare, 'to set in motion or stir up.' English first used the noun for literal movers and political representatives; the image of stirring matter also produced the mechanical sense, while stirring people produced the modern political sense.