exhilarate
Americanverb (used with object)
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exhilarates,
present (3rd person singular)
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exhilarated,
past participle, past
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exhilarating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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exhilarationnoun
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exhilaratornoun
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exhilarativeadjective
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unexhilaratedadjective
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unexhilaratingadjective
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exhilaratinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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exhilaratesimple
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exhilaratessimple
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have exhilaratedperfect
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has exhilaratedperfect
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am exhilaratingprogressive
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are exhilaratingprogressive
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is exhilaratingprogressive
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have been exhilaratingperfect progressive
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has been exhilaratingperfect progressive
Past
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exhilaratedsimple
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had exhilaratedperfect
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was exhilaratingprogressive
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were exhilaratingprogressive
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had been exhilaratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exhilarate
First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin exhilarātus, past participle of exhilarāre “to gladden,” equivalent to ex- “from, out of, beyond” + hilarāre “to cheer” ( see hilarity); see ex- 1, -ate 1
Explanation
Exciting or thrilling things might exhilarate you. If you love acting, just the thought of being on stage might exhilarate you, giving you a feeling of giddy excitement. The Latin word exhilarare meant "to gladden" and exhilarate still holds a similar meaning today. If you feel down, maybe imagining a high, clear sky on a fresh, cool day can exhilarate your spirit. You found out that driving a race car exhilarates you but only makes your friend carsick. I hope you brought some rags.
Vocabulary lists containing exhilarate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They were very big shoes to fill, but 110 goals and 75 assists for Chelsea had demonstrated Hazard's ability to consistently excite and exhilarate at the highest level.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2023
Oakeshott understood in 1961 that modernity’s emancipation of the individual from the “warmth of communal pressures” did not exhilarate everyone.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 24, 2021
Photograph: John Alex Maguire /Rex Features Winning Words is a project intended to highlight during the 2012 Olympics; it's also an anthology – Winning Words: Inspiring Poems for Everyday Life – designed to exhilarate.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 31, 2012
His turn — his chance to exhilarate some much younger actor with tales of Brian Murray and Patti LuPone and David Mamet and Patrick Stewart — will come later.
From New York Times ● Oct. 3, 2010
In his secret life, Walter was a fabulously wealthy entrepreneur. exhilarate.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
He added: "Moana 2 exhilarates with its tunefulness, and absolutely romps along from the moment the heroine gets off the island, bound for another adventure on her trusty outrigger canoe."
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2024
Ever since moving here, I feel like I’ve been searching for that buzz, that indication of what exhilarates the arts patrons in this city.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 22, 2022
He rushes off to Paris, whose air exhilarates him.
From Time Magazine Archive
Manhattan exhilarates Miro, and he expects it to give his art more oomph.
From Time Magazine Archive
It is not exactly Love, no more than gooseberry wine is champagne; but it effervesces and exhilarates, and I 'm not sure if it does not agree very well with weak constitutions.
From Tony Butler by Charles James Lever
He said he smashed his keyboard after realising they had discovered a new species, adding that he felt both "exhilarated and relieved".
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Matisse said he dreamed of an art that exerted “a soothing, calming influence on the mind,” but we leave Acquavella exhilarated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
"I was exhilarated, knowing that this natural insight had led to a major breakthrough," Zargartalebi said.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2024
The CGI glamour throughout “Wicked” can be intoxicating, but in this climax it enables Erivo’s Elphaba to soar like a comet and declare her independence with exhilarated determination:
From Salon ● Dec. 2, 2024
She had come looking for her sister—no doubt with the exhilarated notion of protecting her, or admonishing her, and had heard a noise from behind the closed library door.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
It was exhilarating as strangers and former pupils popped in, from India to Brazil to Ukraine to a block away from where I lived.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
Mastering this unusual system has proved a challenge but an exhilarating one, with the print moving at 180 feet per minute, twice the speed of a conventional projector.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Spectators at Glasgow's OVO Hydro were treated to exhilarating performances during New Zealand's 61-54 win over England - and when Jamaica later took a narrow 46-45 victory over Australia.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
The towering versions assembled by Shaggy and Scooby embodied abundance, customization and the exhilarating possibility that nearly anything could be made better by placing it between two pieces of bread.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
But today he lingered, let Vic Irsik’s sons come and leave, for the previous evening, a Friday the thirteenth, had been a tiring one, though in part exhilarating.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
