stir up

verb

stirred up; stirring up; stirs up

transitive verb

1

: to cause (someone) to feel a strong emotion and a desire to do something

The speech stirred up the crowd.

2

: to cause (something) to move up into and through the air or water

The workers stirred up a lot of dust.

3

: to cause (something, usually something bad or unpleasant) to happen

They're trying to stir up trouble.

But, of course, there's a reason politicians generally try to communicate deliberately: It helps them avoid saying things that might offend voters or stir up controversy.

—Philip Bump

I'm not a rebel, trying to stir things up just to be provocative.

—Norma Klein

… the incident stirred up a hornet's nest of protest and indignation.

—Robert T. Martinott

Examples of stir up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

My grandmother’s voice carries; stirs up soot. —Manuel Muñoz, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has stirred up a lot of attention by painting his fingernails. —Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Sep. 2025

The polar vortex is stirring up, bringing the earliest hints that the seasons are changing. —Brandi D. Addison, jsonline.com, 8 Sep. 2025

Leave it to the changemaker planet, Uranus, to station retrograde in your career sector to stir up changes that completely catch you off guard. —Valerie Mesa, People.com, 1 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for stir up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup