stir up — provoke trouble or strong feelings (often negative)
phrasal verbC1IELTS 7+neutraloccasional
to deliberately cause trouble, strong emotions, or conflict, especially by making people feel angry or upset about something
Say it like a native
Textbook He deliberately incited discord among the staff.
Native He's just stirring up trouble.
'Stir up' is the everyday verb for provoking conflict or strong feeling; 'incite discord' is formal.
Pattern: stir up + noun (e.g. trouble, anger, controversy, resentment)
In use
- The politician's speech stirred up a lot of anger among the workers.society
- Some people believe that the media often stirs up public fear to attract more viewers, which can have negative effects on society.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ She likes to stir up with trouble.
✓ She likes to stir up trouble.
'Stir up' takes the object directly — no 'with' (or just 'stir things up').
Common collocations
stir up + trouble— trouble, controversy, bad feeling, the crowd
Don't confuse it
Unlike the basic sense of 'stir up' (to mix a substance), this sense is figurative and refers to provoking emotions or trouble, not physically mixing things.