#6: Makebate

Definition:

: one that excites contentions and quarrels

Example:

"So that love in her passions (like a right makebate) whispered to both sides arguments of quarrel." – Philip Sydney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, 1590

About the Word:

Admittedly, we already have the word troublemaker, which, although a bit broad, occupies much of the same semantic territory as makebate.

But if you are a follower of Winston Churchill's ostensible dictum "In general, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all," then makebate is the word for you. For it is not only two syllables shorter than troublemaker, it has been in use in English for about three hundred years longer (1529 vs. 1834).