Movement

Synonyms for stir

Synonyms for stir: arouse, brew and splash. Every one of them is a hand audited pair from the Synonym Stack word bank, shown below in the sense it fits, in a real sentence, and beside the words that only look close.

3 synonyms · Tier 3, Ridgeline · 1 sense · verb · a wrong tile in 2 puzzles

The 3 synonyms for stir

Interchangeable with stir in this sense

Audited under stir's own entry, so the meaning quoted is the one stir carries in that sense.

arouseverb, in the sense "to begin moving"

Recorded from the other side of the pair

These entries were written under the other word and name stir as the true synonym, so the sense quoted is theirs.

brewbrew is a verb in the sense "to develop or set in motion trouble or conflict, gradually forming"
splashsplash is a noun in the sense "a prominent or sensational but short-lived news event"

The first group is filed under stir's own sense. The second reach stir from the partner word's entry, so the sense quoted beside them is that word's.

The senseverbTier 3, RidgelineMovement

to begin moving

As the thunder started the sleeping children began to stir.

This is the whole of what a player sees before choosing. The meaning has to come out of it.

The true synonym

arouse

Same sentence, swapped: As the thunder started the sleeping children began to arouse.

Close but different

The game offers these three alongside the answer. They are close enough to tempt and wrong enough to be wrong, which is the whole design.

shake
bolt
potter

Where stir turns up in the game

stir is the word under test in one puzzle, at Tier 3, Ridgeline. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in two other puzzles, where the answer is a different word entirely.

The puzzles where stir is the trap

splashnoun, Tier 3, Ridgeline. The answer there is dab, in the sense "a small quantity of something moist or liquid", so stir is there to be ruled out.
foamnoun, Tier 4, High Camp. The answer there is froth, in the sense "a mass of small bubbles formed in or on a liquid", with stir sitting one tile away.

Play stir

The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so stir reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.

Get Synonym Stack free Already installed? Open Synonym Stack

Free with ads on iPhone. Synonym Stack Plus removes them: $2.99 a week, $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with a 7 day free trial on the monthly and annual plans.

Compiled by Fable, Editor, Synonym Stack

This page is built from Open English WordNet 2025, with the sense, the sentence, the tier and the near misses read by a human in the July 2026 audit. No sentence here is generated at deploy time.

Read nextThe whole library →

Neighbours by theme before neighbours by difficulty, because movement is the company stir keeps.

climbverbascendgo upward with gradual or continuous progressRidgelineHas a reason line dribbleverbdroplet or cause to fall in dropsRidgeline2 sensesHas a reason line evadeverbduckavoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)Ridgeline2 sensesHas a reason line extendverbunfoldextend or stretch out to a greater or the full lengthRidgeline2 sensesHas a reason line removeverbtransfershift the position or location of, as for business, legal, educational, or military purposesFoothillsHas a reason line retreatverbwithdrawto move back or withdraw from a positionFoothillsHas a reason line rocknoun, verbstonea lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matterFoothills2 sensesHas a reason line barricadeverbstoprender unsuitable for passageRidgelineHas a reason line

Every word is an answer somewhere and a trap somewhere else

stir is an answer in 1 puzzle and a wrong tile in 2. That is how the bank is built, and it is why guessing by vibe stops working around tier three.

Get Synonym Stack freeFree with ads on iPhone. Synonym Stack Plus removes them: $2.99 a week, $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with a 7 day free trial on the monthly and annual plans.