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

Another curiosity involving the new Star Trek series is nestled away in the end credits to the show’s remarkably timely, exhilarating and well-executed pilot. —Joe Lynch, Billboard, 26 Jan. 2026

Nagahisa ultimately blends the digital with the all-too-real in innovative, haunting, formally exhilarating ways; he should be canonized alongside Jane Schoenbrun and French director duo Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel. —Blake Simons, IndieWire, 26 Jan. 2026

The elements can also be removed when the rider wants to go solo and is looking for a more challenging (but also more exhilarating) experience. —Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 23 Jan. 2026

There is something exhilarating about being on the ground, feeling the earth beneath your feet, and moving in harmony with the wild. —Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Jan. 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