stir up
Get things going
To stir up is to provoke or incite—to set something in motion that was dormant or calm.
You can stir up trouble, stir up controversy, or stir up old memories.
The phrase suggests agitation, like stirring sediment from the bottom of a container: The article stirred up a debate that had been settled for years.
To stir someone up is to rouse their emotions or anger.
Rouse from slumber
- rouseStir to wakefulness
- exciteStimulate strong emotion
- stimulateProvoke into activity
- kindleStart a blaze
ignite · spark · trigger · evoke · elicit · provoke · animate · enliven
Disturb or provoke
- fomentProvoke or stir up
- instigateCause to begin
- inflameIntensify emotion or irritation
- fuelEnergy source material
ferment · escalate · fan · rabble-rouse · radicalize · antagonize · enrage · exacerbate
awaken
Rouse from slumber
kindle · ignite · spark · trigger · evoke · elicit · provoke · animate · enliven · invigorate
agitate
Disturb or provoke
fuel · ferment · escalate · fan · rabble-rouse · radicalize · antagonize · enrage · exacerbate · intensify
unsettle
Cause unease or anxiety
roil · trouble · perturb · agitate · destabilize · disorder · unnerve · disquiet · rattle · muddy
- agitateagitate, rouse, disturb, annoy, irritate
- disruptdisrupt, disturb, upset, disorder, disorganize
- protest sloganssi se puede, enough is enough, resist, ban the bomb, fight the power
- intensifyintensify, boost, amplify, escalate, enhance