What does arouse mean?
To arouse is to stir something into activity — most often a feeling, reaction, or state of attention within a person. In its dominant modern use, the verb describes evoking emotions or responses: news can arouse sympathy, behavior can arouse suspicion, and art can arouse curiosity or indignation. It can also mean literally waking someone from sleep, though this sense is somewhat more literary today, and it carries a firmly established meaning of producing sexual excitement or desire. The word is transitive, always taking an object: you arouse something in someone, rather than simply arouse. Stylistically, it leans formal and is common in journalism, academic writing, and legal prose, where phrases such as "arouse interest" and "arouse controversy" appear frequently. Derived forms include the noun "arousal," used widely in psychology and physiology, and the adjective "arousing." Its connotations are generally neutral, though careful writers occasionally choose synonyms like "provoke" or "spark" to avoid unintended suggestive overtones.
verbTo arouse is to awaken or stir a feeling, emotion, reaction, or interest in someone, or to rouse a person from sleep.
- To evoke or stir up a feeling, emotion, attitude, or reaction in someone (e.g. arouse suspicion, curiosity, anger).
- To awaken someone from sleep; to rouse.
- To cause sexual excitement or desire.
"The documentary aroused public concern about the safety of the water supply."
"The senator's remarks immediately aroused the anger of her constituents."
"A sharp smell of smoke aroused him from a deep sleep."
"Arouse" was born from hunting: to "rouse" originally meant to flush game birds out of cover — so every time you arouse suspicion, you're flushing it into the open.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of arouse
"Arouse" was formed in English by adding the prefix "a-" to the older verb "rouse," a process common in Middle and early Modern English (compare "abide" from "bide"). "Rouse" itself first appears in the fifteenth century, originally as a term in falconry and hunting meaning to startle game birds out of cover, and its ultimate origin is uncertain, though it has been linked to Anglo-Norman "reuser" or "ruser" (to push back or repel), related to Old French "reuser." By the late sixteenth century "rouse" had broadened to mean waking anyone or stirring any strong feeling, and "arouse" emerged shortly afterward with essentially the same senses. The word shares its history with "rout" and "rowdy," both traceable to the same French verb family.
Related word forms
How arouse is actually used
"Arouse" is largely formal or neutral in register when used for emotions, reactions, or suspicion. Because of its well-established sexual sense, writers sometimes prefer alternatives like "provoke," "spark," or "stir up" in contexts where an unintended suggestive reading could occur — particularly with animate objects. The sexual sense typically appears as "arouse someone" or in the adjective form "arousing."
Easily confused with arouse
Erase means to remove or wipe out written material or data, while arouse means to stimulate a feeling or wake someone.
The noun phrase "a rose" refers to the flower and sounds identical to "arose" (the past tense of arise), which is distinct from "arouse," meaning to stir up.