exhilarating

adjective

ex·​hil·​a·​rat·​ing ig-ˈzi-lə-ˌrā-tiŋ 

: causing strong feelings of happy excitement and elation : thrilling

an exhilarating experience

… an exhilarating ride that allows participants to catch an aerial view like they've never seen before.

—Kathryn M. Roy

… I would like to convey the sense of flight as it was almost at the very beginning of itself, when everything about it was miraculous and dangerous and exhilarating.

—James Dickey

… an exhilarating career full of deals sealed at three-martini lunches.

—Andrea Cooper

exhilaratingly

ig-ˈzi-lə-ˌrā-tiŋ-lē 

adverb

an exhilaratingly funny performance

Synonyms

• breathtaking
• charged
• electric
• electrifying
• exciting
• exhilarative
• galvanic
• galvanizing
• hair-raising
• heart-stopping
• inspiring
• intoxicating
• kicky
• mind-bending
• mind-blowing
• mind-boggling
• rip-roaring
• rousing
• stimulating
• stirring
• thrilling

Examples of exhilarating in a Sentence

no recording can capture the exhilarating feeling of being at a live rock concert

Recent Examples on the Web

For something more exhilarating, there’s a traditional Nordic bathing experience in the thermal suite, with saunas, hot tubs, warming caves, snow grottos, and cold-water buckets. —Susan B. Barnes, Robb Report, 12 Dec. 2024

There’s a wealth of themes to plumb, from familial trauma to addiction to sexism to the tyranny of genius, but its core exploration of the sacrifice required to be an artist is exhilarating, brutal, and intoxicating. —Ew Staff, EW.com, 11 Dec. 2024

For thrill-seekers, navigate the rapids of the Pho Chhu River, an exhilarating way to take in the pristine surrounding landscape. —Mark Lakin, Travel + Leisure, 7 Dec. 2024

Those aggressive compounds are what can make hot coffee such a well-rounded and exhilarating ride, of course. —Matthew Korfhage, WIRED, 6 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1634, in the meaning defined above