Meaning & use
troublemaker
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountabledisapproving
A person who regularly causes problems, arguments or disorder for others.
Grammar: Refers to a person; the plural is troublemakers.
Patterns
- a troublemaker in somewhere
- label someone a troublemaker
The new student was branded a troublemaker after the first week.
Every office seems to have one troublemaker who starts the gossip.
He was never a violent person, just a lively troublemaker.
nouncountableinformal
Someone who raises awkward questions or challenges authority, seen as disruptive by those in charge.
Grammar: Can be a compliment when speaker approves of the challenge.
Patterns
- be seen as a troublemaker
The manager saw her as a troublemaker because she questioned every decision.
Reformers have often been called troublemakers by those in power.
He wore the label of troublemaker as a badge of pride.
Word forms
| plural | troublemakers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a known troublemaker
- The security guard recognized him as a known troublemaker.
- a born troublemaker
- Her grandmother called her a born troublemaker.
- label as a troublemaker
- Teachers should be careful not to label a child as a troublemaker.
- a notorious troublemaker
- The notorious troublemaker was banned from the stadium.
- stir up troublemakers
- The rumor seemed to stir up troublemakers in the crowd.
Synonyms and how they differ
- agitator
- Agitator suggests someone who deliberately stirs up anger for a cause, often political.
- rabble-rouser
- A rabble-rouser stirs up crowds with emotional speech, so it is narrower than troublemaker.
- rascal
- Rascal is a milder, affectionate word for a naughty person, especially a child.
- instigator
- An instigator is a person who starts a particular event or fight rather than habitually making trouble.
Opposites
Word family
- trouble noun
- difficulty or disturbance
- troublesome adjective
- causing difficulty
- troublemaking noun
- the act of causing trouble
- troubleshooter noun
- a person who finds and fixes problems
Commonly confused: troublemaker or troubleshooter?
troublemaker vs troubleshooter
A troubleshooter fixes problems, while a troublemaker causes them.
Practice
The teacher moved the boy away from the others because he was a ____ who kept starting arguments.
Choose one answer.
A troublemaker is someone who causes problems. A peacemaker does the opposite, and a troubleshooter solves problems instead of starting them.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “troublemaker”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.