aroused; arousing
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
Elizabeth Berg
: to awake from sleep : stir
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
The shows are surprisingly complementary, but not necessarily because their contents are arousing.
—Amy Verner, Vogue, 19 Oct. 2024
The release of the trailer, last week, aroused divergent reactions: while many were skeptical, plenty of others rushed to the prediction markets to make multimillion-dollar bets.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2024
For example, Punjab leads the country in purchasing arousing gels and oils.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 31 July 2024
Something will arouse your sympathies today, that’s for sure.
—Georgia Nicols, The Denver Post, 2 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for arouse 
Amy Verner, Vogue, 19 Oct. 2024
The release of the trailer, last week, aroused divergent reactions: while many were skeptical, plenty of others rushed to the prediction markets to make multimillion-dollar bets.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2024
For example, Punjab leads the country in purchasing arousing gels and oils.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 31 July 2024
Something will arouse your sympathies today, that’s for sure.
—Georgia Nicols, The Denver Post, 2 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for arouse
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'arouse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near arouse
Cite this Entry
“Arouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arouse. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Medical Definition
arouse
transitive verb
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
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