Meaning & use
stimuli
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“stimuli” is a form of “stimulus”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplural
Things that cause a reaction or response in a person, animal, or living cell.
Grammar: This is the plural form; the singular is stimulus, and it takes a plural verb: stimuli are.
Patterns
- respond to stimuli
- react to stimuli
- a range of stimuli
The baby's eyes follow bright stimuli across the room.
Nerve cells pass messages when they receive the right stimuli.
In the experiment, the mice were exposed to loud sound stimuli.
nounpluralbusiness
Events or situations that encourage people or organizations to act or work harder.
Grammar: Used mainly in business and economics writing; the singular stimulus is far more common in this sense.
Patterns
- economic stimuli
- provide stimuli for something
- tax stimuli
The government introduced several economic stimuli to boost spending.
Lower interest rates acted as stimuli for new home building.
These tax stimuli were designed to help small businesses hire workers.
Word forms
| singular | stimulus |
|---|
Common combinations
- respond to stimuli
- Plants respond to stimuli such as light and gravity.
- external stimuli
- The patient was easily confused by external stimuli like noise and movement.
- sensory stimuli
- Children with this condition may overreact to sensory stimuli.
- a variety of stimuli
- The test presented a variety of stimuli to see which ones the birds noticed.
- positive stimuli
- Positive stimuli such as praise can improve performance at work.
Synonyms and how they differ
- triggers
- Triggers are events that set off a reaction, often suddenly; stimuli is the broader scientific term for anything that produces a response.
- incentives
- Incentives are rewards meant to encourage action, so they fit business contexts better than the neutral scientific sense of stimuli.
- cues
- Cues are signals that guide behavior or memory; stimuli simply cause a response, whether or not they carry information.
Word family
- stimulus noun
- The singular form: one thing that causes a response.
- stimulate verb
- To cause something to become active or grow.
- stimulation noun
- The act of encouraging activity or response.
- stimulating adjective
- Making someone feel interested or excited.
Commonly confused: stimuli or stimulant? stimuli or simuli?
stimuli vs stimulant
A stimulant is a substance such as caffeine that makes the body more active, while a stimulus is anything that causes a response.
stimuli vs simuli
This is a misspelling; the correct plural is stimuli.
Practice
The researchers found that the plants grew toward light and other environmental ___.
Choose one answer.
Stimuli is the plural form needed here because the sentence refers to more than one thing in the environment. Stimulus is singular, stimulant means a substance that speeds up the body, and stimulations is not used in this scientific sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stimuli”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.