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
Smart polymers already exist and can respond to such stimuli, altering their color or shape and then returning to their original state.
—
Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 14 Feb. 2026
In contrast, some stimuli are incredibly powerful, hard to find, and unpredictable.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
This suggests the presence of an internal, self-evolving latent variable—independent of external stimuli—that shapes the timing structure of motivation and decision-making.
—Matt Emma, USA Today, 24 Jan. 2026
Emotional numbing symptoms, in particular, are known to intensify this pattern of reacting sharply to negative stimuli and then shutting down emotionally.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 20 Jan. 2026
Pupil size is determined by both external stimuli, such as light, and internal stimuli, such as fatigue or excitement.
—IEEE Spectrum, 7 Jan. 2026
By this decade, your body has started to naturally lose muscle mass, and putting on new muscle may be more difficult due to anabolic resistance, which blunts the muscle’s ability to respond to external stimuli like exercise and protein.
—Emma Loewe, Outside, 1 Jan. 2026
Word games, information sleuthing, instructional videos, and even just chatting with friends can provide positive stimuli.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2025
Infants as young as six months respond to robotic stimuli in ways that mirror their responses to humans, suggesting that in certain contexts, the social cues that drive connection may work similarly across both humans and robots.
—Dr. Dana Suskind, Time, 18 Dec. 2025
Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 14 Feb. 2026
In contrast, some stimuli are incredibly powerful, hard to find, and unpredictable.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
This suggests the presence of an internal, self-evolving latent variable—independent of external stimuli—that shapes the timing structure of motivation and decision-making.
—Matt Emma, USA Today, 24 Jan. 2026
Emotional numbing symptoms, in particular, are known to intensify this pattern of reacting sharply to negative stimuli and then shutting down emotionally.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 20 Jan. 2026
Pupil size is determined by both external stimuli, such as light, and internal stimuli, such as fatigue or excitement.
—IEEE Spectrum, 7 Jan. 2026
By this decade, your body has started to naturally lose muscle mass, and putting on new muscle may be more difficult due to anabolic resistance, which blunts the muscle’s ability to respond to external stimuli like exercise and protein.
—Emma Loewe, Outside, 1 Jan. 2026
Word games, information sleuthing, instructional videos, and even just chatting with friends can provide positive stimuli.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2025
Infants as young as six months respond to robotic stimuli in ways that mirror their responses to humans, suggesting that in certain contexts, the social cues that drive connection may work similarly across both humans and robots.
—Dr. Dana Suskind, Time, 18 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stimuli
Noun
-
The new contract was richer, filled with all sorts of incentives … and also for a very long time.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
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To be eligible for the Spirit Awards, a movie's budget cannot exceed $30 million after tax incentives.—
Jillian Sederholm,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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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 20 Feb. 2026.
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