exhilarating
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
- exhilaratingly adverb
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.
The result is an often exhilarating, often disturbing and always poignant tale of an artist and adventurer who lived to challenge the limits of what humans could do.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
The last act of possibly the most exhilarating night in the history of the national team fell to McLean.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
The first half is exhilarating; the second half is a huge bill come due.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
While making “Aprende Peque” episodes is creatively exhilarating, Muñoz said it’s the fan reaction and interaction that mean the most to her.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2026
The scent and the feeling are adventurous and exhilarating, with the salty tinge of a sea breeze.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
