stimulus

noun

stim·​u·​lus ˈstim-yə-ləs 

plural stimuli ˈstim-yə-ˌlī 

-ˌlē

: something that rouses or incites to activity: such as

a

: incentive

b

: stimulant sense 1

c

: an agent (such as an environmental change) that directly influences the activity of a living organism or one of its parts (as by exciting a sensory organ or evoking muscular contraction or glandular secretion)

Synonyms

• boost
• encouragement
• goad
• impetus
• impulse
• incentive
• incitation
• incitement
• instigation
• momentum
• motivation
• provocation
• spur
• stimulant
• yeast

Examples of stimulus in a Sentence

The pay raise was a stimulus for production.

Heat and light are physical stimuli.

The dog responded to the stimulus of the ringing bell.

Recent Examples on the Web

As with these other biometric data, the protections only apply to brain data that’s collected for identification purposes, as opposed to things like inferring emotions or seeing how the brain reacts to various stimuli. —David Meyer, Fortune, 18 Apr. 2024

Instead, state officials spent the relief money for other purposes, including additional stimulus checks to residents. —Don Lee, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2024

There are no reports of a $6,200 stimulus program from any government agency or credible media outlet. —USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024

Many specifically remembered the stimulus checks with his signature printed on them that were sent to tens of millions of Americans during the waning days of his presidency. —Ruth Igielnik, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2024

One of the most common ways is to avoid rewarding dogs for reacting to negative stimuli. —Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 12 Apr. 2024

Infrastructure is China’s default form of economic stimulus. —Milton Ezrati, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024

Ueda’s predecessor Haruhiko Kuroda launched a shock-and-awe stimulus bazooka in April 2013 with the aim of achieving 2% inflation in two years. —Toru Fujioka, Fortune Asia, 19 Mar. 2024

Now that states no longer have stimulus funding for child-care programs, experts predict many day cares will either beforced to close or raise tuition costs. —Joe Heim, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin

First Known Use

1684, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

stimulus

noun

stim·​u·​lus ˈstim-yə-ləs 

plural stimuli -ˌlī 

-ˌlē

1

: something that rouses or stirs to action : incentive

2

: something (as an environmental change) that acts to partly change bodily activity (as by exciting a sensory organ)

heat, light, and sound are common physical stimuli

Medical Definition

stimulus

noun

stim·​u·​lus ˈstim-yə-ləs 

plural stimuli -ˌlī  -ˌlē 

1

: stimulant sense 1

2

: an agent (as an environmental change) that directly influences the activity of living protoplasm (as by exciting a sensory organ or evoking muscular contraction or glandular secretion)

a visual stimulus