stirring
Americanadjective
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rousing, exciting, or thrilling.
a stirring speech.
-
moving, active, bustling, or lively.
a stirring business.
noun
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a mental impulse, sensation, or feeling.
stirrings of hope.
-
a small movement.
the best thing she could do was to pretend that her husband's nocturnal stirrings didn't wake her
adjective
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exciting the emotions; stimulating
-
active, lively, or busy
Other Word Forms
- stirringly adverb
- unstirring adjective
Etymology
Origin of stirring
before 900; Middle English stiringe, Old English styriende. See stir 1, -ing 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At last I heard Betsie stirring in the kitchen and ran down to join her.
From Literature
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Already the birds were stirring in the trees.
From Literature
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My words were airy, with no hint of the humiliation and spite stirring just under the surface.
From Literature
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These films break through a dense documentary market with their stirring portraits of wars, political leaders, activists, artists, musicians, movements, and occasionally, regular people like you and me.
From Salon
We built Iran in our American kitchens and living rooms, and now the real one is stirring.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.