arouse

verb

ə-ˈrau̇z 

aroused; arousing

transitive verb

1

: to awaken from sleep

was aroused from a deep sleep by a loud noise

2

: to stimulate to action or to bodily readiness for activity : excite

a book that has aroused debate

3

: to excite (someone) sexually : to cause sexual arousal in (someone)

… girls whose perfume scent frightened him and aroused him.

—Elizabeth Berg

intransitive verb

: to awake from sleep : stir

aroused

ə-ˈrau̇zd 

adjective

Synonyms

• awake
• awaken
• knock up [British]
• rouse
• wake
• waken

Examples of arouse in a Sentence

The report aroused a great deal of public interest.

The husky sound of her voice could always arouse him.

Their proposal is certain to arouse the opposition.

Recent Examples on the Web

This was music meant to arouse wonder and yearning. —Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2025

There were clumps of diseased needles and black limbs killed by lightning long ago, but nothing else to arouse any interest. —Frank C. Hibben, Outdoor Life, 27 Feb. 2025

The latter proved particularly tricky because the office had to remove and read the messages without arousing suspicion. —Peter Zablocki, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Feb. 2025

Life’s inevitable uncertainties instantly arouse your sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight or stress response). —Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

a- (as in arise, awake entry 1) + rouse entry 1

Note: The verb arouse is formed by analogy with rise : arise, wake : awake; in these pairs a- goes back to Old English, as either the perfective prefix a- (see abide) or a reduced form of on- (see a- entry 1).

First Known Use

circa 1616, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for arouse

• allows
• aphthous
• avows
• carouse
• endows
• espouse
• eyebrows
• boughs
• bows
• brows
• browse
• cows

Kids Definition

arouse

verb

ə-ˈrau̇z 

aroused; arousing

1

: to awaken from sleep

2

: to rouse to action : excite

Medical Definition

arouse

transitive verb

ə-ˈrau̇z 

aroused; arousing

1

a

: to awake from sleep

b

: to rouse or stimulate to action

c

: to excite (someone) sexually : to cause sexual arousal in (someone)

2

: to give rise to

a response aroused by a stimulus

arousable

ə-ˈrau̇-zə-bəl 

adjective

arousability

ə-ˌrau̇-zə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

plural arousabilities