What it means
A stirrer is a troublemaker who deliberately stirs things up, sowing discord and provoking quarrels for the mischief of it, then often sitting back to watch the fallout. The image is of stirring a pot to keep it bubbling, never letting things settle. The office stirrer passes on the gossip that sets colleagues against each other, all wide-eyed innocence while the trouble brews.
Usage examples
"There is always one stirrer who keeps the feud going."
"Ignore her, she is a stirrer who loves setting people against each other."
"My cousin is a proper stirrer at family gatherings, she lets slip the wrong gossip and watches it all kick off."
"Don't invite that stirrer from accounts to the team meeting, he'll pick a fight before the agenda starts."
"He knew exactly what he was doing when he told Jake that, the little stirrer."
Where it comes from
Straight from the verb stir plus the agent ending -er. It’s been used in British English for ages for someone who keeps drama simmering, especially by passing comments around to get a rise out of people. Very UK-flavoured in office, school, pub, and family chat.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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