stimulate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to rouse to action or effort, as by encouragement or pressure; spur on; incite.
A childhood summer learning program was the first thing to stimulate his interest in mathematics.
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Physiology, Medicine/Medical. to excite (a nerve, gland, etc.) to its functional activity.
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to invigorate (a person) by a food or beverage containing a stimulant such as coffee or tea.
verb (used without object)
verb
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(tr; usually passive) to fill (a person) with ideas or enthusiasm
he was stimulated by the challenge
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(tr) physiol to excite (a nerve, organ, etc) with a stimulus
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to encourage (something) to start or progress further
a cut in interest rates should help stimulate economic recovery
Synonym Usage
See animate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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stimulabilitynoun
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stimulaternoun
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stimulationnoun
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stimulatornoun
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overstimulateverb
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interstimulateverb (used with object)
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prestimulateverb (used with object)
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restimulateverb (used with object)
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superstimulateverb (used with object)
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nonstimulableadjective
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self-stimulatedadjective
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stimulableadjective
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stimulativeadjective
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unstimulableadjective
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unstimulatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stimulatesimple
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stimulatessimple
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have stimulatedperfect
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has stimulatedperfect
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am stimulatingprogressive
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are stimulatingprogressive
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is stimulatingprogressive
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have been stimulatingperfect progressive
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has been stimulatingperfect progressive
Past
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stimulatedsimple
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had stimulatedperfect
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was stimulatingprogressive
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were stimulatingprogressive
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had been stimulatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stimulate
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin stimulāt(us) “goaded” (past participle of stimulāre “to goad, incite,” from stimulus stimulus ( def. ) ); see -ate 1
Explanation
If the economy is starting to stall, the president can't just sit there. He has to stimulate—turn it on, bring it to life, perk it up. You can stimulate practically anything: a person, a conversation, a mind, or even the growth of a plant. Stimulate is often used to describe a physical or sexual sensation, but don't get bogged down in that kind of thinking. Often, a government will try to stimulate economic activity by creating a stimulus package. Or, say, for example, that I'm trying to sell my new song CD. In order to stimulate interest, I need to send out a sample song to all my friends. Unless, of course, my songs are no good.
Vocabulary lists containing stimulate
"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
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"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Game Changer
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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.
See Examples For:
The strongest effects appeared in excitatory neurons, which stimulate activity in brain networks.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
The resulting album, titled Music, Fashion, Film, is smart, self-referential, funny, antagonistic and crammed full of moments to stimulate your inner earworm.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Warsh has been a longstanding critic of purchasing assets to stimulate economic activity, known as quantitative easing, when interest rates are pinned near zero.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
“I believe that stories have an important role to play in the formation of human beings,” Miyazaki once said, “that they can stimulate, amaze and inspire their listeners.”
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
He suggested that I try taking Clomid, a drug meant to stimulate egg production, for a couple of months.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Take Lough Neagh – by scientists' estimation, approximately four decades' worth of phosphorus, the nutrient that stimulates growth, are stored in its sediment.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
It is used to end pregnancies through 10 weeks gestation in combination with the drug misoprostol, which stimulates contractions and softens the cervix, allowing tissue to expel.
From Barron's ● May 10, 2026
When adults were treated with thyroid hormone, which stimulates liver cell growth, their cells began accumulating mutations at rates similar to those seen in juveniles.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 29, 2026
The Fed’s current target, at 3.5% to 3.75%, is only marginally above Fed officials’ revised 3.1% estimate of “neutral,” which neither holds back nor stimulates spending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 21, 2026
This substance evidently stimulates the normal wording behavior in the hive.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
“That’s really what stimulated the conversation of the possibility.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
When the team electrically stimulated a single bipolar cell, the response spread well beyond that one pathway.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
Five years ago, Rhi had a procedure to put a sacral nerve stimulation system in place - where the nerves controlling the bowel can be stimulated with a device implanted under the skin.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
This “Animal Farm” is ignorant of the fact that kids need to be stimulated by more than scatalogical humor to actually influence their perspectives, rather than cater to their existing tastes and knowledge.
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
When the radio was on, music has stimulated memory of times and places, complete with characters and stage sets, memories so exact that every word of dialogue is recreated.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
This hormone signals fullness to the brain, slowing digestion and stimulating the release of insulin.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
IVF involves stimulating the ovaries to produce eggs, retrieving them, fertilising them in a laboratory and then implanting the resulting embryo back into the womb.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
With FAPD, the goal of treatment is decreasing the inflammation that causes irreversible scarring and, if possible, stimulating hair growth in follicles that haven’t been completely damaged.
From Slate ● May 23, 2026
This gentleman clearly enjoys his work in television news and finds it stimulating and exciting.
From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026
But the truth was that Oppenheimer had no desire to return to Harvard, which as a student he had found intellectually stimulating but socially isolating.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
