intoxicating
Americanadjective
-
causing or capable of causing intoxication.
intoxicating beverages.
-
exhilarating; exciting.
an intoxicating idea.
adjective
-
(of an alcoholic drink) producing in a person a state ranging from euphoria to stupor, usually accompanied by loss of inhibitions and control; inebriating
-
stimulating, exciting, or producing great elation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of intoxicating
First recorded in 1625–35; intoxicat(e) + -ing 2
Explanation
Something that's intoxicating is exciting and a bit disorienting. The intoxicating smell of your mom's lasagna might make you forget momentarily that you said you'd meet a friend for pizza. The adjective intoxicating is perfect for describing things that exhilarate or thrill you. The sound of an audience cheering for you at your accordion concert might feel intoxicating, and a ride on a roller coaster can also be wonderfully intoxicating. A more literal meaning of intoxicating is "making one drunk," and the word itself comes from a Latin root, "to poison."
Vocabulary lists containing intoxicating
The Haunting of Hill House
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The Battle of the Labyrinth
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The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
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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.
Intoxicating nostalgia and the sorrow of unvarnished reality travel hand in hand.
From New York Times • Nov. 1, 2011
To abstain from all Intoxicating Liquors as a beverage and that I will, by all honorable means, encourage others to abstain.
From The Choctaw Freedmen and The Story of Oak Hill Industrial Academy by Flickinger, Robert Elliott
"Polluted imagination," says one man; "Intoxicating liquor," says another man; "My own hard heart," says another man.
From New Tabernacle Sermons by Talmage, T. De Witt (Thomas De Witt)
Intoxicating drinks were unknown to the sedentary inhabitants of New Mexico previous to the advent of Europeans.
From The Delight Makers by Bandelier, Adolph Francis Alphonse
Intoxicating mixture of sweet confidingness and unfailing resource.
From The Matador of the Five Towns and Other Stories by Bennett, Arnold
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.
