Synonyms

bestir

American

[bih-stur] / bɪˈstɜr /

verb (used with object)

bestirred, bestirring

to stir up; rouse to action (often used reflexively).

She bestirred herself at the first light of morning.

bestir British

/ bɪˈstɜː /

verb

(tr) to cause (oneself, or, rarely, another person) to become active; rouse

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bestir

before 900; Middle English bistiren, Old English bestyrian to heap up. See be-, stir ¹

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.

It took a lot to bestir Angelenos from their bungalows and Buicks, but their throats felt like sandpaper, and their chests hurt like the blazes.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

If the United States needs workers and desperate people in flight want to work, as Mr. Thiessen correctly argued, then Congress should bestir itself and reform the legal immigration system.

From Washington Post • Oct. 10, 2022

Will they bestir themselves to action, or simply shrug their shoulders and accept what is already happening?

From Salon • Aug. 4, 2021

This dual release will test the willingness of lockdown-weary audiences to bestir themselves from their by now severely dented couch cushions to see what the trade press still calls, with touching hopefulness, an “event picture.”

From Slate • Jun. 29, 2021

What were the odds that the people running this school would actually bestir themselves to make room for Jesse?

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023