arouse

verb

ə-ˈrau̇z 

aroused; arousing

transitive verb

1

: to awaken from sleep

was aroused from a deep sleep by a loud noise

2

: to stimulate to action or to bodily readiness for activity : excite

a book that has aroused debate

3

: to excite (someone) sexually : to cause sexual arousal in (someone)

… girls whose perfume scent frightened him and aroused him.

—Elizabeth Berg

intransitive verb

: to awake from sleep : stir

aroused

ə-ˈrau̇zd 

adjective

Synonyms of arouse

• awaken
• wake
• rouse
• awake

Examples of arouse in a Sentence

The report aroused a great deal of public interest.

The husky sound of her voice could always arouse him.

Their proposal is certain to arouse the opposition.

Recent Examples on the Web

There may be many spouses out there who are aroused by mother-in-law cosplay. — John Hodgman, New York Times, 22 May 2026

As virality goes, this is not a big number, but the passion that the account has aroused dwarfs its reach. — David Kamp, New Yorker, 29 June 2026

Today, fiery Mars moves to the top of your chart to stay for the next six weeks, arousing your ambition as never before. — Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 9 Apr. 2026

Payment processors aren’t idiots, and a huge number of new charges was likely to arouse suspicion. — Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 13 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

a- (as in arise, awake entry 1) + rouse entry 1

Note: The verb arouse is formed by analogy with rise : arise, wake : awake; in these pairs a- goes back to Old English, as either the perfective prefix a- (see abide) or a reduced form of on- (see a- entry 1).

First Known Use

circa 1616, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for arouse

• allows
• aphthous
• avows
• carouse
• endows
• espouse
• eyebrows
• boughs
• bows
• brows
• browse
• cows

Kids Definition

arouse

verb

ə-ˈrau̇z 

aroused; arousing

1

: to awaken from sleep

2

: to rouse to action : excite

Medical Definition

arouse

transitive verb

ə-ˈrau̇z 

aroused; arousing

1

a

: to awake from sleep

b

: to rouse or stimulate to action

c

: to excite (someone) sexually : to cause sexual arousal in (someone)

2

: to give rise to

a response aroused by a stimulus

arousable

ə-ˈrau̇-zə-bəl 

adjective

arousability

ə-ˌrau̇-zə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

plural arousabilities