Used to describe an ongoing action or state that is currently taking place in the immediate present.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In a Yelets bakery the smell of freshly baked raisin bread, scones and cream pastries is intoxicating.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2026
Feeling like you know better, while not having to learn anything, is intoxicating.
From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2024
Jolie, however, uses perfection as armor, so no matter how much her Callas insists that opera is intoxicating, no matter how intoxicated her character actually is, her performance is a sober take on madness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2024
For many, this gameplay loop — established in the 2009 video game Demon’s Souls — is intoxicating.
From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2024
“It is intoxicating, certainly, but might it not also be dangerous? An effect of the atmosphere of Hill House? The first sign that we have—as it were—fallen under a spell?”
From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
