stimulate

Compared meaning: to make something more active or lively (verb).

比较义项：使更有活力、促使更活跃或有所发展（动词）。

• stimulate 本词

  Focuses on triggering something to become more active or to develop, often an abstract thing like imagination, interest, or an organ's function; less about personal energy levels.

  侧重激发某事物变得更活跃或进一步发展，对象常是想象力、兴趣或器官功能等抽象事物；不太用于描述个人的精力状态。

  Reading new books can really stimulate a child's imagination.

  读新书真的能激发孩子的想象力。

• energize

  Focuses on giving a person energy or enthusiasm right now, so the object is almost always a person who then feels more alert or lively.

  侧重立刻给某人补充精力或热情，宾语几乎总是人，使其感觉更有精神、更有活力。

  A short walk outside always seems to energize me before work.

  上班前到外面走一小段路似乎总能让我恢复活力。

Stimulate and energize both mean to make something more active. Stimulate means prompting something, often an abstract thing like interest, to become more active; its object is usually a thing, not a feeling. Energize means giving a person energy now; its object is a person.

这两个词都可表示“使更有活力、更活跃”，但侧重点不同：stimulate 强调激发某事物（想法、兴趣、器官等）变得更活跃或进一步发展，对象常是抽象事物；energize 强调给人补充精神或体力，对象通常是人，侧重当下的精神/体力状态。二者在此义项上语气相近，但搭配对象不同，学习者容易混淆。