To incite means to stir people up and provoke them to take action, usually strong or intense action. When someone incites a crowd, they're deliberately working to make people angry, excited, or upset enough to do something they might not have done otherwise.

You might read about a troublemaker who incites a food fight in the cafeteria by shouting and throwing the first handful of mashed potatoes, getting everyone else riled up to join in. A character in a story might incite rebellion by giving passionate speeches that make people want to fight against unfair rulers.

The word carries a sense of deliberately stirring things up, often in a negative way. Someone who incites violence is purposely trying to make people angry enough to become violent. A person who incites chaos wants disorder and confusion. However, the word can occasionally be neutral or even positive: a coach might incite determination in their team with an inspiring halftime speech, or a teacher might incite curiosity about science with an amazing demonstration.

The key is that inciting means actively pushing people toward action by stirring them up emotionally. It's forceful and intense: loudly inciting classmates to protest until a playground rule changes, rather than calmly asking them to consider a different approach.