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 adjective

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
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
So maybe use the feelings aroused by your sister-in-law’s thoughtless, certainly injudicious, possibly naughty remark as an opportunity to rise above. James Parker, The Atlantic, 22 Oct. 2024 The shows are surprisingly complementary, but not necessarily because their contents are arousing. Amy Verner, Vogue, 19 Oct. 2024 The release of the trailer, last week, aroused divergent reactions: while many were skeptical, plenty of others rushed to the prediction markets to make multimillion-dollar bets. Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2024 For example, Punjab leads the country in purchasing arousing gels and oils. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 31 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for arouse 

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of arouse was circa 1616

Dictionary Entries Near arouse

Cite this Entry

“Arouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arouse. Accessed 14 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

arouse

verb
aroused; arousing
1
: to awaken from sleep
2
: to rouse to action : excite

Medical Definition

arouse

transitive verb
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 adjective
arousability noun
plural arousabilities

More from Merriam-Webster on arouse

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