Tending to cause or produce commotion; having the power to agitate or disturb.
From Latin 'commovere' (to move together, agitate) plus the suffix '-ive' meaning 'tending to or having the quality of.' Similar in formation to words like 'emotive' or 'locomotive.'
This is essentially a fancier way of saying 'stirring up trouble,' and it's the kind of word a Victorian novelist might use to describe a scandalous rumor spreading through society like wildfire.
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