STOKES Synonyms: 76 Similar and Opposite Words

stokes

verb

Definition of stokes

present tense third-person singular of stoke

as in increases

to make greater in size, amount, or number hopefully, offering stock options will stoke workers' commitment to the company

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of stokes Whether that message drives home a lack of affordability as gas, food and home prices surge or stokes fears about the rise of communism in the American heartland, Democrats and Republicans are spending a lot of time thinking about what to say. — Valerie M. Fridland, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2026 And what really stokes the opposition comes from people's wallets. — John Shumway, CBS News, 20 Oct. 2026 Japan has been struggling to curb a slide that pushes up import prices, stokes inflation, and weighs on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s approval ratings. — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 3 Aug. 2026 The solar eclipse in Leo on August 12 is the first eclipse in a new series that will be lighting up your 5th house of creativity, and this one stokes the flame of your storytelling genius. — Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 July 2026 As the implosion of Graham Platner in Maine stokes an intraparty debate over progressives’ campaign acumen, the left has sought to change the subject by digging in against data centers as energy-hungry behemoths that hurt communities. — David Weigel, semafor.com, 14 July 2026 Across America charms — all four of my rides last week ended in audience applause — by simply being a calming, relaxed journey that stokes our sense of adventure. — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026 Arteta is the engine-room of that motivation at Arsenal, the one who stokes and tends to the project’s ambition, whose uncompromising standards drive everyone to perform better. — James McNicholas, New York Times, 19 May 2026 But our societal fragmentation stokes consequences far beyond our personal feelings. — Bing Chen, Time, 13 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for stokes

Verb

Treating these as separate challenges increases cost and complexity over time.

— Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
As the bleak second law of thermodynamics states, entropy always increases over time in a closed system.

— Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of increases

Verb

CoreMotion technology accelerates the transition from autonomy development and experimentation to operationally relevant capability, as per the release.

— Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
Every clinical breakthrough has cost implications, accelerates the pace of change and widens the gap between what is scientifically possible and what is practical for clinicians delivering care.

— Brad Kreick, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of accelerates

Verb

This is becoming especially important as the AI economy expands.

— H.E. Dr Abdulla Saif Al Jarwan, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
Larger aircraft expands capacity The 737-10 typically seats between 185 and 210 passengers in a two-class configuration, although its maximum seating capacity reaches 230.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of expands

Verb

That boosts the total number of essential workers to about 4,400.

— Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Von Tobel pointed to businesses such as Hill House Home, founded by Nell Diamond, and beauty brand Saie, founded by Laney Crowell, as examples where a company’s growth is closely tied to founders whose personal influence boosts business growth.

— Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of boosts

Verb

Enabling that mode augments the on-device scam detection first shipped in March 2025, adding cloud analysis run in Google’s Private AI Compute environment.

— Rob Pegoraro, PC Magazine, 14 Oct. 2026
That the stakes are high only augments the thrill of unlocking their working equation.

— Artforum, Artforum, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of augments

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“Stokes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stokes. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of stokes

verb

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