Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of stimulate

78 similar words

Another word for stimulate is encourage. Other synonyms of stimulate are push, urge, motivate, promote and spur.

Synonyms and similar words for stimulate

verbTo encourage into action.

  • encourageTo mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit.
  • induceTo cause, bring about, lead to.
  • incite
  • provokeTo bring about a reaction.
  • actuateTo incite to action; to motivate.
  • gooseTo stimulate; to spur.
  • fuel
  • light a fire underTo motivate or encourage (someone) to start sooner or move faster.
  • send
  • sting
  • bring aboutTo cause to take place.
  • drawTo attract or provoke (a particular reaction or response) from someone.
  • driveTo motivate; to provide an incentive for.
  • egg onTo encourage or coax (a person) to do something, especially something foolhardy or reckless.
  • engenderTo bring into existence (a situation, quality, result etc.); to give rise to, cause, create.
  • evokeTo elicit a response.
  • exciteTo arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate.
  • fomentTo incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate.
  • goadTo incite or provoke.
  • ignite figurativelyTo spark off (something), to trigger.
  • impelTo urge a person; to press on; to incite to action or motion via intrinsic motivation.
  • inflame figurativelyTo excite or intensify (a feeling, such as an appetite or passion), especially to an excessive or unnatural level.
  • instigateTo goad or urge (a person) forward, especially to wicked actions.
  • invokeTo bring about as an inevitable consequence.
  • lash
  • motiveTo prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
  • motivateTo provide someone with an incentive to do something; to encourage; to actuate.
  • obligate
  • oblige
  • pushTo continually attempt to persuade (a person) into a particular course of action.
  • promoteTo encourage, urge or incite.
  • promptTo initiate; to cause or lead to.
  • rouseTo provoke (someone) to react (for example, in anger or annoyance); to spur; also, to annoy, to tease.
  • set offTo begin; to cause; to initiate.
  • spark offTo initiate something by providing the necessary conditions.
  • spurTo urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object.
  • spur onTo spur or urge (someone) to do something.
  • stirTo incite to action.
  • stir upTo arouse or excite (passion or action, etc.).
  • stoke figuratively
  • temptTo provoke something; to court.
  • urgeTo press; to push; to drive; to impel; to force onward.
  • whip upTo arouse or excite.
  • abet obsoleteTo urge on, stimulate (a person to do) something desirable.
  • cheer obsoleteTo infuse life, courage, animation, or hope, into; to inspirit; to solace or comfort.
  • grill Scotland, USTo make angry; provoke; offend, incite.
  • move obsoleteTo incite, urge (someone to do something); to solicit (someone for or of an issue); to make a proposal to.
  • whet obsoleteTo inculcate or teach (habits, information, etc.).

verbTo arouse an organism to functional activity.

  • animateTo give spirit or vigour to; to stimulate or enliven; to inspirit.
  • arouseTo stimulate or induce (feelings); pique.
  • energize
  • energiseNon-Oxford British standard spelling of energize.
  • perk up
  • awaken figurativelyTo bring into action (something previously dormant); to stimulate.
  • beghastTo fill with shock, awe, wonder, or amazement; inspire; enthuse.
  • leaven
  • brightOften followed by up: to cause (someone or something) to be bright (in various senses); to brighten; specifically, to...
  • brighten figuratively
  • enliven
  • enthuse
  • exalt
  • fire upTo excite; to infuse with energy.
  • ginger
  • ginger upTo make something more interesting, fun, lively, etc.
  • invigorate
  • inspire
  • inspirit
  • jazz
  • kindle figurativelyTo arouse or inspire (a passion, etc).
  • livenTo cause to be more lively, or to become more lively.
  • liven upTo improve a person's mood by making them more energetic.
  • quickenTo put (someone or something) in a state of activity or vigour comparable to life; to excite, to rouse.
  • spice
  • spice up
  • vitaliseTo make more vigorous; to invigorate or stimulate.
  • de-energizeTo remove the energy from (a circuit or a system).
  • sedate
  • stifle

Meaning of stimulate

  1. verb To encourage into action.
  2. verb To arouse an organism to functional activity.

Full definition of stimulate

stimulate in other languages

Questions about synonyms of stimulate

What is another word for stimulate?
Stimulate has 78 synonyms on Word.ws, such as encourage, push, urge, motivate, promote, spur, induce and provoke.
What does stimulate mean?
Stimulate means to encourage into action.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stimulate (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “Synonyms of stimulate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/stimulate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.