stirred

verb

past tense of stir
1
as in swirled
to cause (as a liquid) to move about in a circle especially repeatedly the recipe says to stir the mixture carefully until it's properly blended

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in shifted
to change one's position the cat stirred, then opened its eyes and slowly got to its feet

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in provoked
to rouse to strong feeling or action news coverage of the fire stirred many to send donations to a fund for the families who had lost their homes

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stirred The DeepSeek shock in early 2025 triggered another freakout as the Chinese AI model stirred doubts about the necessity of all that capex. — Jason Ma, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026 Earlier this year, Yu Hao, the founder and CEO of leading robot-vacuum-maker Dreame, made headlines and stirred controversy with his goal of building it into the world’s first $100 trillion company. — Derek Rose, Time, 15 Oct. 2026 In the first test, the team stirred polystyrene powder into water containing methyl orange, a yellow dye that ROS break apart. — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 15 Oct. 2026 The first clue came when a yellow dye in water slowly lost its color over 10 days after being stirred with plastic particles. — Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 14 Oct. 2026 But the excitement about tech bubbles is always stirred by genuine progress, not mere marketing. — Ruchir Sharma, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2026 Everything gets stirred together in a baking dish, popped in the oven, and 40 minutes later, dinner is hot and ready. — Lizzy Briskin, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Oct. 2026 To English leftist folkies, lately stirred by Bertrand Russell and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the lyric, coming from Dylan, would cut through the anti-Americanism not uncommon in their midst. — Sean Wilentz, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2026 Even before its launch, the series stirred spirited discussion from enthusiasts of the book overs Kazan’s decision to center the story’s chilling antagonist Cathy Ames, played by Florence Pugh. — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stirred
  1. swirled
  2. shifted
  3. provoked
  4. washed
  5. moved
  6. encouraged
  7. shook
  8. stimulated
Verb
  • Speculation has swirled in recent weeks over whether Saudi Arabia would go forward with the event, given high-profile attacks on the Riyadh airport.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2026
  • When Big Bear’s celebrity eagle died in August, questions swirled about what had gone wrong.
    — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of swirled
Verb
  • China, for example, shifted from a net provider of finance to a net extractor over the last decade.
    — Masood Ahmed, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Obviously, the mood has shifted around this college town thanks to the Hoosiers winning last year's CFP title, along with having a head coach in Curt Cignetti who has turned this program into a football juggernaut in just two years.
    — Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of shifted
Verb
  • Sectarian violence made religious mobilization increasingly unattractive, while foreign occupation provoked an awareness of Iraqi nationhood.
    — Mansoor Moaddel, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Even in a country with one of the highest murder rates in the world, the scale of the killings in such a short space of time has provoked shock.
    — Nimi Princewill, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of provoked
Verb
  • The collection also includes an oversize reversible bomber jacket, washed and distressed sweatshirts and T-shirts, a polo, baseball caps and dedicated kids’ pieces.
    — Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The tongs used to grab pastelitos, croquetas and empanadas from the hot box had been in use more than four hours without being washed, rinsed and sanitized again.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of washed
Verb
  • The new walkers moved even more slowly to emphasize their enormous weight.
    — Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The alleged rivalry between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle was seemingly dying down—but then Meghan and Prince Harry moved back to the UK.
    — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of moved
Verb
  • He was encouraged to do so by Sadie Sink, who returned to Broadway in 2025 John Proctor is the Villain.
    — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 17 Oct. 2026
  • For businesses, flood panels are not only permissible but also encouraged via flood insurance discounts.
    — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of encouraged
Verb
  • The crossing left at least 140 migrants dead and shook the city perched on the Mediterranean coast.
    — JOSEPH WILSON, Arkansas Online, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Both were arrested and were being held in separate prisons in the central city of Isfahan over their participation in the nationwide January protests that shook the Islamic republic.
    — Frank Andrews, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of shook
Verb
  • The treatments also lowered the production of inflammatory signals that cause long-term swelling, and stimulated new blood vessel formation to nourish healing skin.
    — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Serra then analogizes the spatial mediation stimulated by Shift to a verbal operation.
    — Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of stimulated

Browse Nearby Words

stir
stirred
stirred (up)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Stirred.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stirred. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All