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

Paying no attention to a ‘controversy’ Obama’s recent remarks on the Cheesecake Factory stirred up conversations again on the restaurant’s aesthetic. — Ramishah Maruf, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2026

Introduced in 2018, the DBS Superleggera combines 12 cylinders with two turbochargers to stir up 715 hp, an impressive 115 hp more than the DB11 it was based on. — Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 30 Oct. 2026

Cohen knew the character’s return would stir up some outrage. — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 27 Oct. 2026

And deep sapphire gives the kind of counterculture cool girl who skips the gala hobnobbing for popping bottles with friends and stirring up good trouble around the town. — Loren Savini, Allure, 26 Oct. 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