exhilaration
Americannoun
-
exhilarated condition or feeling.
- Synonyms:
- hilarity, jollity, joyousness, animation
-
the act of exhilarating.
Etymology
Origin of exhilaration
First recorded in 1615–25, exhilaration is from the Late Latin word exhilarātiōn- (stem of exhilarātiō ). See exhilarate, -ion
Explanation
Exhilaration is great joy, and excitement and liveliness! When you ride an ocean wave, hear a favorite song, or have a long and uncontrollable laugh with friends, there's a feeling of exhilaration, an overflow of happiness. Most people have moments of exhilaration (egg-zill-uh-RAY-shun), sometimes during life's big moments, like a graduation or wedding, and often while just walking down the street and feeling great about the day and being alive. And exhilaration is contagious: when you witness someone else's exhilaration, it usually makes you full of warmth and joyousness too. Some synonyms of exhilaration also sound close to it, like "exultation," "exaltation," and "elation." As they say, it's all good.
Vocabulary lists containing exhilaration
Lord of the Flies
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Words inspired by "Inside Out"
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The Pearl
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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.
"I just wasn't getting that same kind of exhilaration."
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Games afford us the exhilaration of getting outside ourselves with new incentives, powers and ways to strive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Does the olfactory exhilaration also enhance play-calling, amplifying one’s grasp of X’s and O’s?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2026
I fell into the same rhythm: starting over, drenched in sweat, sheer exhilaration, “sign me up.”
From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2026
That night I took a pair of embroidery scissors and, with great exhilaration and a pounding heart, cut off the first inch.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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.
