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

Last year at the Zurich Summit, Tilly Norwood, an AI actress, was announced by Particle6, which stirred up a whole debate on the use of AI actors. —Leo Barraclough, Variety, 10 June 2026

In a week, something else will come up that [will stir up] the hornets' nest. —Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 10 June 2026

The ruthless tabloid press was quick to stir up controversy. —Sheena McKenzie, CNN Money, 7 June 2026

It’s stirred up real emotions from fans, who have taken to social media platforms to express their dismay. —Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 3 June 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