stimulus

noun

stim·​u·​lus ˈstim-yə-ləs 

plural stimuli ˈstim-yə-ˌlī  -ˌlē 

: something that rouses or incites to activity: such as

a

: incentive

b

: stimulant sense 1

c

: an agent (such as an environmental change) that directly influences the activity of a living organism or one of its parts (as by exciting a sensory organ or evoking muscular contraction or glandular secretion)

Synonyms

• boost
• encouragement
• goad
• impetus
• impulse
• incentive
• incitation
• incitement
• instigation
• momentum
• motivation
• provocation
• spur
• stimulant
• yeast

Examples of stimulus in a Sentence

The pay raise was a stimulus for production.

Heat and light are physical stimuli.

The dog responded to the stimulus of the ringing bell.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Speaker of the House also threw cold water on the idea of a DOGE Dividend stimulus check according to The Hill. —Shahar Ziv, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025

Will there be a DOGE stimulus check?What to know about whether Americans will see savings Another step to take is to start moving a few hundred dollars of your monthly take-home pay into an emergency savings fund, a dwindling backup many Americans have had to dip into amid rising costs. —Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 28 Feb. 2025

But analysts caution that Beijing won’t likely go all out on stimulus given the uncertainty around trade tensions with the U.S. —Anniek Bao,evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 27 Feb. 2025

Any uncertainty or economic setbacks can force governments to create stimulus packages that stir up inflation. —Marc Guberti, Sacramento Bee, 26 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin

First Known Use

1684, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for stimulus

• limulus

Kids Definition

stimulus

noun

stim·​u·​lus ˈstim-yə-ləs 

plural stimuli -ˌlī 

-ˌlē

1

: something that rouses or stirs to action : incentive

2

: something (as an environmental change) that acts to partly change bodily activity (as by exciting a sensory organ)

heat, light, and sound are common physical stimuli

Medical Definition

stimulus

noun

stim·​u·​lus ˈstim-yə-ləs 

plural stimuli -ˌlī  -ˌlē 

1

: stimulant sense 1

2

: an agent (as an environmental change) that directly influences the activity of living protoplasm (as by exciting a sensory organ or evoking muscular contraction or glandular secretion)

a visual stimulus