arousal
noun
Simple meaning
A physiological and psychological state of being awake or reactive to stimuli.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
erowzuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɚˈaʊzəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The act of arousing or the state of being aroused.
“The purpose of art is the arousal of emotions.”
A physiological and psychological state of being awake or reactive to stimuli, including elevated heart rate and blood pressure and a condition of sensory alertness, mobility and readiness to respond.
Sexual arousal.
Arousal from sleep or hibernation.
Awakening from sleep
A state of heightened physiological activity
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of arousing or the state of being aroused.
Used this way, arousal is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The purpose of art is the arousal of emotions.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “arousal of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: arousal of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use arousal
- “The purpose of art is the arousal of emotions.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
The act of arousing.
The act of arousing an organism to action.
The acts at the beginning of a (usually human) sexual encounter that serve to build up sexual arousal.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The arousal of strong emotions and emotional behavior.
The arousal of sexual desires in preparation for sexual behavior.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: arousing
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.