stir up

verb

stirred up; stirring up; stirs up

transitive verb

1

: to cause (someone) to feel a strong emotion and a desire to do something

The speech stirred up the crowd.

2

: to cause (something) to move up into and through the air or water

The workers stirred up a lot of dust.

3

: to disturb the quiet of : agitate

a bear stirring up the bees

4

: to cause (something, usually something bad or unpleasant) to happen

They're trying to stir up trouble.

But, of course, there's a reason politicians generally try to communicate deliberately: It helps them avoid saying things that might offend voters or stir up controversy.

—Philip Bump

I'm not a rebel, trying to stir things up just to be provocative.

—Norma Klein

… the incident stirred up a hornet's nest of protest and indignation.

—Robert T. Martinott

Examples of stir up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The moon and Pluto are harmonizing, stirring up emotions while delivering breakthroughs. —Usa Today, USA Today, 6 Apr. 2026

Those chemicals, salts and metals have concentrated over time in the lake bed sediments, and they get stirred up into the air when the wind blows through. —Jill Johnston, The Conversation, 3 Apr. 2026

This aspect could stir up intense emotions, magnetic attractions and moments that force you to look at what (and who) holds true power in your life. —Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 3 Apr. 2026

All the music, however, had stirred up the four birds across the valley. —Charles Elliott, Outdoor Life, 2 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for stir up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup