A troublemaker is someone who causes problems or arguments on purpose. The key word is on purpose. A person who breaks a cup by accident is clumsy; a person who quietly tells one friend what another friend said, so that they will fight, is a troublemaker.

You hear it most about children in class, about workers a boss dislikes, and about someone in a group who keeps stirring things up. It is a criticism, but not a strong or ugly one — it is the ordinary word a teacher or parent reaches for.

Here is the part worth noticing. The word tells you as much about the speaker as about the person. Bosses and governments call people troublemakers when those people complain or ask uncomfortable questions — and then the label is a way of saying "do not listen to them", not "they did something wrong". So when you read it in the news, ask who is applying it.

And it is not always negative. Said with a smile to a child or a close friend — "you little troublemaker" — it is affectionate, almost admiring. Some people wear the word proudly. Tone decides everything.

It is spelt as one word today, and one person is a troublemaker while several are troublemakers.