Meanings
plural arousals
- 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.
2003, Jinhee Choi, "Fits and Startles: Cognitivism Revisited," The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 61, no. 2 (Spring), p. 152, Subjects report the physiological arousals induced by adrenaline and placebo differently.
Synonyms: alertness
- Arousal from sleep or hibernation.
the mechanism for arousal from sleep
1 more example
The animal undergoes regular spells of arousal.
Synonyms: wakefulness
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSexual arousal.
nounA 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.
nounArousal from sleep or hibernation.
More synonyms by meaning
nounmutual sexual fondling prior to sexual intercourse
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ud-s-?
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂u-s-?
- Proto-Germanic*uz-
- Proto-West Germanic*uʀ-
- Old Englishar-
- Old Englishā-
- Middle Englisha-
- Englisha-
- Middle Englishrousen
- Englishrouse
- Englisharouse
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englisharousal
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 覺醒 /觉醒, 喚起 /唤起
- 覺醒 /觉醒 (juéxǐng, jiàoxǐng)the act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- 喚起 /唤起 (huànqǐ)the act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- 激發 /激发 (jīfā)sexual arousal
- 興奮 /兴奋 (xīngfèn)sexual arousal
Finnish herääminen, kiihottuminen
- herääminenthe act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- kiihottuminenthe act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- kiihottuminensexual arousal
French éveil, excitation
- éveilthe act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- excitationsexual arousal
German Erregung, Erregtsein
- Erregungthe act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- Erregtseinthe act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- Erregtheitthe act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- Erregungsexual arousal
- Aufweckungarousal from sleep or hibernation
- Aufwachenarousal from sleep or hibernation
- Erwachenarousal from sleep or hibernation
- Wachwerdenarousal from sleep or hibernation
Italian arrapamento, eccitazione
- arrapamentothe act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- eccitazionethe act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- foiathe act of arousing or the state of being aroused
Japanese 覚醒, 喚起
- 覚醒 (kakusei)the act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- 喚起 (kanki)the act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- 興奮 (kōfun)sexual arousal
Polish pobudzenie, podniecenie
- pobudzeniesexual arousal
- podnieceniesexual arousal
- przebudzeniearousal from sleep or hibernation
Portuguese excitação, excitação
- excitaçãothe act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- excitaçãosexual arousal
- tesãosexual arousal
- tesãosexual arousal
- despertararousal from sleep or hibernation
Russian пробужде́ние, бо́дрствование
- пробужде́ние (probuždénije)the act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- бо́дрствование (bódrstvovanije)the act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- возбужде́ние (vozbuždénije)sexual arousal
Spanish excitación, excitación
- excitaciónthe act of arousing or the state of being aroused
- excitaciónsexual arousal
- excitación sexualsexual arousal
Tagalog pagka-libog
- pagka-libogsexual arousal
Ukrainian збудження
- збудження (zbudžennja)sexual arousal
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with arousal
All rhymes →Cite this entry
arousal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arousal
“arousal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arousal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “arousal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arousal.
Source: arousal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.