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

But these beetles are stirring up their own invasive problem. —Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 13 Mar. 2026

The wind stirs up pollen into the air, keeping counts high, while rain lowers airborne pollen any time of day, affecting allergies. —Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 12 Mar. 2026

The moon’s clash with Venus stirs up drama in your romantic life. —Usa Today, USA Today, 12 Mar. 2026

Superhuman appears to have been blindsided by the outrage its impersonating bot stirred up. —Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 12 Mar. 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