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
They’re our life’s towering originals, the difficult ones who infuriate us and exhilarate us in equal measure.
From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2016
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
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
And indeed there is about her a health and sense and sanity that exhilarates you like a very spirit of the green earth.
From Time Magazine Archive
The rarefied atmosphere exhilarates instead of suffocating her.
From Time Magazine Archive
It stimulates and exhilarates him for the moment, but usually ends by going to his head and making him act foolish.
From A Guide to Men Being Encore Reflections of a Bachelor Girl by Helen Rowland
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
And then, the curtain call, to remind you that whatever came before, the actors are fine, drinking in your appreciation and sending you out happy and exhilarated and perhaps full of hope.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2025
"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
I was so exhilarated by the realization that I did the most unexpected thing in the world.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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
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
Alan Still completed the skydive for Rowleys Centre for the Community in Cranleigh, Surrey, describing the experience as "absolutely exhilarating".
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
But it is true that bad boys can be exhilarating until they crash and burn—like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
I found that to march with one’s people was exhilarating and inspiring.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
