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Stimulant vs Stimulus - What's the difference?

stimulant | stimulus |

As nouns the difference between stimulant and stimulus

is that stimulant is a substance that acts to increase physiological or nervous activity in the body while stimulus is anything that may have an impact or influence on a system.

As an adjective stimulant

is acting as a stimulant.

stimulant

English

Noun

(wikipedia stimulant) (en noun)
  • A substance that acts to increase physiological or nervous activity in the body.
  • Something that promotes activity, interest, or enthusiasm.

    • Synonyms

    * psychostimulant

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Acting as a .
    • ----

    stimulus

    English

    (wikipedia stimulus)

    Noun

    (stimuli)
  • (rfc-sense) Anything that may have an impact or influence on a system.
    • an economic stimulus
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=Democrats, meanwhile, point out that Republicans seem to have made a conscious decision, beginning with the stimulus , to oppose anything the president put forward, dooming any chance of renewed cooperation between the parties.}}
  • (rfc-sense) (physiology) Something external that elicits or influences a physiological or psychological activity or response.
  • (rfc-sense) (psychology) Anything effectively impinging upon any of the sensory apparatuses of a living organism, including physical phenomena both internal and external to the body.
  • (rfc-sense) Anything that induces a person to take action.

    • Synonyms

    * (anything that may have an impact or influence) influence * (anything that induces a person to take action) impetus, impulse, spur