Synonyms of stimulating

stimulating 1 of 2

adjective

ˈstim-yə-ˌlā-tiŋ 

1

as in exciting

causing great emotional or mental stimulation

enjoys the good food and stimulating conversation at his best friend's house

Synonyms & Similar Words

• exciting
• breathtaking
• interesting
• thrilling
• intriguing
• inspiring
• exhilarating
• electrifying
• gripping
• electric
• intoxicating
• provocative
• galvanizing
• rousing
• fascinating
• galvanic
• lively
• absorbing
• mind-blowing
• stirring
• mind-bending
• rip-roaring
• kicky
• tantalizing
• engrossing
• mind-boggling
• riveting
• heart-stopping
• exhilarative
• moving
• charged
• hair-raising
• enchanting
• titillating
• enthralling
• touching
• arresting
• dynamic
• energetic
• spellbinding
• poignant
• high-voltage
• kinetic
• lusty

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• boring
• tedious
• tiresome
• unexciting
• dull
• monotonous
• uninteresting
• dreary
• mind-numbing
• humdrum

2

as in refreshing

having a renewing effect on the state of the body or mind

a brisk, stimulating walk on a bright, clear wintry day

Synonyms & Similar Words

• refreshing
• restorative
• reviving
• vitalizing
• stimulative
• rejuvenating
• vital
• bracing
• invigorating
• tonic
• medicinal
• cordial
• healthy
• beneficial
• therapeutic
• strengthening
• exhilarating
• helpful
• life-giving
• animating
• conditioning
• sharp
• healthful
• quickening
• curative
• remedial
• corrective
• rehabilitative
• salutary
• salubrious
• wholesome
• reformative
• reparative
• curing
• recuperative
• rectifying
• reformatory
• remedying
• exhilarative

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• draining
• weakening
• exhausting
• debilitating
• deadening
• numbing
• injurious
• deleterious
• pernicious
• enervating
• sapping
• wearying
• enfeebling
• noxious
• unhealthy
• unwholesome
• unhealthful
• insalubrious

3

as in provocative

serving or likely to arouse a strong reaction

an article containing a stimulating argument for raising, not lowering, the tax on gasoline

Synonyms & Similar Words

• provocative
• charged
• exciting
• provoking
• motivating
• motivational
• motivative
• inciting
• edgy
• inspiring
• instigating
• triggering
• inflammatory
• explosive
• piquing
• instigative
• inducing
• inspirational
• incendiary
• energizing
• activating
• vitalizing
• teasing
• aggravating
• irritating
• upsetting
• quickening
• maddening
• fiery
• annoying
• exasperating
• vexing
• galvanizing
• irksome
• bothersome
• vexatious
• taunting
• enraging
• jeering
• galling
• pesky
• angering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• noninflammatory
• subduing

stimulating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of stimulate

1

as in arousing

to give life, vigor, or spirit to

research into alternative energy sources has been stimulated by this funding increase

Synonyms & Similar Words

• arousing
• energizing
• invigorating
• enlivening
• provoking
• stirring
• exciting
• vitalizing
• electrifying
• animating
• activating
• awakening
• inspiring
• jump-starting
• motivating
• vivifying
• triggering
• bracing
• driving
• quickening
• spiking
• reviving
• strengthening
• cheering
• rousing
• firing
• sparking
• lifting
• recreating
• boosting
• zipping (up)
• propelling
• awaking
• jazzing (up)
• pepping (up)
• raising
• filliping
• livening (up)
• amping (up)
• charging
• rallying
• moving
• gingering (up)
• refreshing
• juicing up
• galvanizing
• motiving
• waking (up)
• resurrecting
• renewing
• impelling
• inciting
• actuating
• reinvigorating
• infusing
• fomenting
• rejuvenating
• enflaming
• buoying
• revitalizing
• instigating
• inflaming
• regenerating
• reenergizing
• kindling
• fortifying
• reactivating
• reawakening
• fermenting
• enkindling
• setting off
• whipping (up)
• rekindling
• emboldening
• recharging
• restimulating
• heartening
• abetting
• resuscitating
• turning on
• re-energizing
• reanimating
• refreshening
• steeling
• reawaking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• killing
• deadening
• dampening
• damping
• dulling
• undermining
• draining
• exhausting
• wearing
• enervating
• harassing
• weakening
• inhibiting
• debilitating
• sapping
• fatiguing
• knocking out
• restraining
• burning out
• suppressing
• wearing out
• wearying
• checking
• slowing
• doing in
• curbing
• washing out
• quenching
• repressing
• quelling
• discouraging
• stunting
• enfeebling
• stilling
• daunting
• demoralizing
• kayoing
• fagging
• disheartening
• tuckering (out)
• jading
• dispiriting

2

as in provoking

to rouse to strong feeling or action

the government crackdown has only stimulated the citizenry to more acts of violence

Synonyms & Similar Words

• provoking
• encouraging
• arousing
• inspiring
• exciting
• stirring
• motivating
• moving
• sparking
• inciting
• inducing
• instigating
• triggering
• firing (up)
• driving
• revving (up)
• energizing
• piquing
• igniting
• impassioning
• activating
• vitalizing
• galvanizing
• motiving
• building a fire under
• inflaming
• kindling
• animating
• fanning
• angering
• quickening
• fomenting
• bothering
• enraging
• setting off
• enflaming
• upsetting
• fermenting
• keying (up)
• abetting
• whipping (up)
• teasing
• raising
• irritating
• aggravating
• maddening
• pumping up
• getting
• exasperating
• taunting
• jeering
• annoying
• vexing
• galling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• soothing
• calming
• subduing
• tranquilizing
• tranquillizing
• pacifying
• appeasing
• placating
• mollifying

Examples of stimulating in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

This transit, which begins on July 20, brings a surge of mentally stimulating energy, igniting a desire for variety and dynamic communication There’s a thought-provoking transit underway, so get ready to spill the tea! —Valerie Mesa, Peoplemag, 17 July 2024

Cancer June 21 – July 22 Your social life could be especially zany and stimulating today. —Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 13 Aug. 2024

For those who don't find the Summer Olympics as stimulating as the Winter Games, the next events in Italy are just two short years away. —NBC News, 12 Aug. 2024

Another contributing factor is that people who are hypersensitive to any general stimulating factor may experience migraine attacks more frequently. —Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2024