intoxicating

American  

[in-tok-si-key-ting] / ɪnˈtɒk sɪˌkeɪ tɪŋ /

adjective

1. causing or capable of causing intoxication.

   intoxicating beverages.

2. exhilarating; exciting.

   an intoxicating idea.

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intoxicating British  

/ ɪnˈtɒksɪˌkeɪtɪŋ /

adjective

1. (of an alcoholic drink) producing in a person a state ranging from euphoria to stupor, usually accompanied by loss of inhibitions and control; inebriating

2. stimulating, exciting, or producing great elation

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Other Word Forms

• intoxicatingly adverb
• nonintoxicating adjective
• nonintoxicatingly adverb
• unintoxicating adjective

Etymology

Origin of intoxicating

First recorded in 1625–35; intoxicat(e) + -ing ²

Example Sentences

Toyon brings red berries in winter and white flowers in spring, while California sagebrush and Cleveland sage fill the air with an intoxicating perfume.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Simplicity delivers an almost wounding effect in his exemplary review of Arthur Penn’s 1967 crime drama “Bonnie and Clyde,” a film fueled by the intoxicating partnership of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

This Christian-bro gym culture offers many young men an intoxicating sense of purpose, one in which the pursuit of conventional masculinity is given a kind of divine backing.

From Slate • Jan. 22, 2026

There’s the bubbling hum of rice boiling on the stove, the intoxicating aroma of warm milk infused with jaggery and fresh pods of cardamom filling the house with a scent no candle could compete with.

From Salon • Jan. 10, 2026

Many of these women were already involved in the temperance movement—the campaign to rid the nation of intoxicating liquor—which would also culminate in 1919.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

Related Words

• exciting
• exhilarating
• heady
• stimulating