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 of exhilarating

• exciting
• breathtaking
• thrilling
• interesting
• intriguing

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

As was the overall result for a confounding team (23-10) that essentially has been equal parts exhilarating and exasperating. —Kansas City Star, 14 Mar. 2026

The series examines the exhilarating lives of local and international professional players both on and off the field. —Skye Sherman, Southern Living, 7 Mar. 2026

Witnessing the present is incredibly different, but no less exhilarating. —Dan Woike, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2026

Still, when my plane’s turn came, the takeoff was as exhilarating as ever—the low rumble and rising thrum, the smooth detachment and sudden lift, and then the surge through clouds into a piercing blue sky. —Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1634, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for exhilarating

• accelerating
• accentuating
• accommodating
• accumulating
• adjudicating
• administrating
• affiliating
• agglutinating
• alienating
• alleviating
• amalgamating
• ameliorating