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

Matar says that the piece stirred up very serious conversations about AI and warfare. — Hannah Seligson, Vanity Fair, 28 Sep. 2026

This is a straightforward American steakhouse, dutifully charbroiling prime steaks and stirring up cold martinis. — Henri Hollis, AJC.com, 24 Sep. 2026

Donovan’s Amber is Cher’s main antagonist, who stirs up drama whenever possible. — Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2026

Anything that could stir up the dust – such as vacuuming the carpet, sweeping the floor, even just tracking it in on their shoes – could stir up the dust again. — Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 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