- present participle of intoxicate.
intoxicating
Americanadjective
-
causing or capable of causing intoxication.
intoxicating beverages.
-
exhilarating; exciting.
an intoxicating idea.
adjective
-
(of an alcoholic drink) producing in a person a state ranging from euphoria to stupor, usually accompanied by loss of inhibitions and control; inebriating
-
stimulating, exciting, or producing great elation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of intoxicating
First recorded in 1625–35; intoxicat(e) + -ing 2
Explanation
Something that's intoxicating is exciting and a bit disorienting. The intoxicating smell of your mom's lasagna might make you forget momentarily that you said you'd meet a friend for pizza. The adjective intoxicating is perfect for describing things that exhilarate or thrill you. The sound of an audience cheering for you at your accordion concert might feel intoxicating, and a ride on a roller coaster can also be wonderfully intoxicating. A more literal meaning of intoxicating is "making one drunk," and the word itself comes from a Latin root, "to poison."
Vocabulary lists containing intoxicating
The Haunting of Hill House
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The Battle of the Labyrinth
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The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
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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.
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
The last storm had been thrilling, intoxicating, a sudden squall that had left him feeling cleansed and refreshed.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
