- present participle of exhilarate.
exhilarating
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Something exhilarating is so exciting it makes you a little giddy. "Snowboarding that black-diamond trail was exhilarating!" Zipping through the snow is certainly exhilarating, but ski bunnies and snowboarders might not choose this fancy adjective first. They might just yell, "Woohoo!" It's always been a fun-loving word; its Latin roots mean "gladden, cheer." A ride on a glass elevator with a cute vampire could be exhilarating, and so could a surprise party, or a ride on an old roller coaster. It can be so refreshing, you can't exhale after something exhilarating happens.
Vocabulary lists containing exhilarating
The Giver
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 2
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The Joy Luck Club
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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.
With Esa-Pekka Salonen as this year’s music director, the festival saw an exhilarating return to its essence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 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
After the choir won the pubic vote in the semi-final on 23 May, Ben Chick, a farmer based in Sixpenny Handley, Dorset, said performing that day "was the most exhilarating experience".
From BBC ● May 31, 2026
The soaring quality of the orchestra and the delectable company of voices pay exhilarating homage to a singular artist, who seems right at home at the Pantages.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
It’s exhilarating to be caught up in the music, to be swept away in the tide of it.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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.
