US /ˈstɪm.jə.ləs/
noun Freq #24710

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    Something that encourages activity or growth, especially in the economy.

    The government introduced an economic stimulus to boost spending.

  2. 2
    noun

    Something that causes a reaction in a person, animal, or the senses.

    The dog learned to respond to a sound as a stimulus for food.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · something that encourages... impetusimpulseincentivespur
2 noun · something that causes a... stimulation
Word family
Forms stimuluses
Derived forms antistimuluschemostimuluscontrastimuluscostimuluscounterstimulusextrastimulusgravistimulushyperstimulusinterstimulusmechanostimulusmicrostimulusperistimulus

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin stimulus (“goad, prick”).

Topics

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