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

Your approach should consider how dust will fall and get stirred up throughout your cleaning process. —Heather Bien, The Spruce, 11 Feb. 2026

Skip the box mix and stir up a batch of these one-bowl brownies. —Josh Miller, Southern Living, 8 Feb. 2026

Reporters looking to stir up trouble in the press room were goading American players, particularly those with foreign-sounding last names. —Beth Herman, Boston Herald, 6 Feb. 2026

Visit our website Still, nothing stirs up emotional angst like the evil specter of Wall Street, so politicians keep right on evoking it, regardless of what the data show. —Washington Post, 5 Feb. 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