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
-
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.
In 2016, workers cut down dozens of oaks trees on land managed by Justin to make room for new grape plantings, stirring up controversy.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
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 • Mar. 14, 2026
As a result, wrinkle structures are uncommon in rocks younger than about 540 million years old, when animal life rapidly diversified and began actively stirring ocean sediments.
From Science Daily • Mar. 8, 2026
The line, he recalled, instantly transported him back to his childhood in Cardiff, stirring "all of those feelings of not being Welsh, of being different. It struck a nerve... it was really raw".
From BBC • Mar. 2, 2026
I got Mr. and Mrs. Diamant up at three thirty, before the house was stirring.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
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.
