stirs (up)

verb

present tense third-person singular of stir (up)
as in provokes
to bring something (volatile or intense) into being couldn't stir up any interest in a Saturday morning outing to the art museum

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for stirs (up)
  1. provokes
  2. raises
Verb
  • In my own research, threatening a man’s sense of manhood – but not a woman’s womanhood – reliably provokes aggression, and the men who react most strongly are those who feel the most pressure to live up to masculine ideals.
    — Adam Stanaland, The Conversation, 20 July 2026
  • However, his light-hearted approach provokes the hostility of the church.
    — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 17 July 2026
Definition of provokes
Verb
  • That raises concerns about how organizations secure environments used for model development, testing, and evaluation.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 21 July 2026
  • But that usually happens before a company gains substantial traction and raises a significant amount of money.
    — Rashi Shrivastava, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
Definition of raises
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.

Browse Nearby Words

stirs
stirs (up)
stir (up)
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Cite this Entry

“Stirs (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stirs%20%28up%29. Accessed 25 Jul. 2026.

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