as in incentives
something that arouses action or activity
seeing a Broadway play for the first time was the stimulus for her career in the theater
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Recent Examples of stimuli
Without being able to compute directly from real stimuli, perceptual models could capture ideas in theory but fail simple real-world tests.
—
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 4 Nov. 2025
Our amygdala is overactive, our nervous systems are fried and our dopamine cycles are hijacked by short-term stimuli.
—Chris Schembra, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
Surveying 453 dog owners, scientists found that canines’ responses were strongly influenced by the type of stimuli—such as animals or objects—and their watching behavior, whether following the action or remaining still.
—Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
The receptors in your hands respond to myriad stimuli-like pressures—vibrations in sync with 15 different families of neurons.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2025
There’s so much stimuli that I get really pumped doing it.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
But the less obvious stimuli for weeping can also be seen as the diametrical opposites of the things that make a joke funny.
—Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025
May Help Reduce Inflammation Inflammation is the body’s natural response to harmful stimuli and pathogens, such as fungi, bacteria, or viruses.
—Johna Burdeos, Health, 22 Sep. 2025
This barrage of sensory stimuli asks more of our cognition than it is equipped to handle.
—Richard E. Cytowic, TIME, 23 Dec. 2024
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 4 Nov. 2025
Our amygdala is overactive, our nervous systems are fried and our dopamine cycles are hijacked by short-term stimuli.
—Chris Schembra, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
Surveying 453 dog owners, scientists found that canines’ responses were strongly influenced by the type of stimuli—such as animals or objects—and their watching behavior, whether following the action or remaining still.
—Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
The receptors in your hands respond to myriad stimuli-like pressures—vibrations in sync with 15 different families of neurons.
—Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2025
There’s so much stimuli that I get really pumped doing it.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
But the less obvious stimuli for weeping can also be seen as the diametrical opposites of the things that make a joke funny.
—Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025
May Help Reduce Inflammation Inflammation is the body’s natural response to harmful stimuli and pathogens, such as fungi, bacteria, or viruses.
—Johna Burdeos, Health, 22 Sep. 2025
This barrage of sensory stimuli asks more of our cognition than it is equipped to handle.
—Richard E. Cytowic, TIME, 23 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stimuli
Noun
-
President Joe Biden's signature Inflation Reduction Act offered many incentives for the development of these alternative energy sources.—
Tom Rogers,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Germany scrapped incentives to boost purchases of fully electric vehicles about two years ago, a policy change that led to a sharp drop in demand for fully electric vehicles, initially.—
Lora Kolodny,
CNBC,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
In October 2024 ahead of her own stay at MSG, Billie Eilish recorded encouragements to take the subways for environmental benefits.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Hints, counsels, warnings, remonstrations, even encouragements are, in the end, of limited value.—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stimuli.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stimuli. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.
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