Synonyms for inspiration
Most common
intake aspiration motivation spark beauty genius insight intuition
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Inhalation
2. Motivation — the act or process of an elevating or stimulating influence upon the intellect, emotions or creativity
motivation, spark, flash, eureka, afflatus formal rare
Other
insight, genius, beauty, intuition, revelation, impulse, brainchild, fire, ecstasy, stirring, poesie, enthusiasm dated
Definitions
- n. 1
The act or process of an elevating or stimulating influence upon the intellect, emotions or creativity.
She was waiting for inspiration to write a book.
- n. 2
The drawing of air into the lungs, accomplished in mammals by elevation of the chest walls and flattening of the diaphragm, as part of the act of breathing.
Related words
- Word family
- inspirational inspirationism inspirationist inspire
Forms
- Plural
- inspirations → inhalations, aspirations, breaths, breathings…
Choose the right word
The old meaning of enthusiasm implies a pseudo-inspiration, an almost frantic extravagance in behalf of something supposed to be an expression of the divine will.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- intake It's important to monitor one's caloric intake.
- aspiration That seems to me a rather pathetic aspiration.
- motivation He lost completely his motivation to learn Berber.
- spark The science is there, what's missing is the spark.
- beauty The beauty of the music brought tears to her eyes.
- genius No one recognized Tom's genius while he was alive.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| inspiration | rising | |
| intake | steady | |
| aspiration | rising | |
| motivation | rising | |
| spark | steady | |
| beauty | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- fire2
- 5 letters
- flash1, spark1
- 6 letters
- beauty2, breath1, genius2, intake2, eureka3, poesie
- 7 letters
- insight2, impulse2, ecstasy3
- 8 letters
- stirring2, afflatus
- 9 letters
- breathing2, intuition4
- 10 letters
- motivation4, revelation4, enthusiasm5, aspiration4, inhalation4, brainchild2
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (fire2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- inspiration
- Italiano
- ispirazione
- Español
- inspiración