arousal
Americannoun
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the act or an instance of waking up.
Arousals occur naturally during sleep and increase with age.
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the act of stimulating someone sexually, or the state of being sexually stimulated.
Some yoga practices improve levels of arousal in sexually unsatisfied women.
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the act of stirring up or the state of being stirred up; excitement: Relieving teens from stress in conversations can be a very effective way to prevent the arousal of anger.
Be aware of your level of emotional arousal when making decisions.
Relieving teens from stress in conversations can be a very effective way to prevent the arousal of anger.
Other Word Forms
- nonarousal noun
- overarousal noun
- rearousal noun
- semiarousal noun
- subarousal noun
Etymology
Origin of arousal
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.
Children who had taken stimulants showed stronger activity in brain regions associated with arousal and wakefulness, as well as areas involved in predicting how rewarding an activity might be.
From Science Daily • Dec. 29, 2025
The two prefrontal regions also carried information about arousal and a small amount of visual detail to MOp.
From Science Daily • Nov. 30, 2025
As a therapist, I know that for children with autism, water offers resistance, pressure and pleasant sensory arousal.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025
One, called the locus coeruleus, is a deep brain region that activates the stress response, promoting arousal and vigilance.
From Salon • Aug. 7, 2024
It’s also because of what happens after the chase, since pursuing a suspect at high speed is precisely the kind of activity that pushes police officers into this dangerous state of high arousal.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
