What does exhilarative mean?
Exhilarative is a formal adjective describing something that produces exhilaration: a vivid sense of excitement, energy, and delight. It is especially suited to describing dramatic, stirring, or adventurous experiences, such as a journey, a performance, or a discovery. The term can be used of a person only when the person creates that effect, whereas “exhilarated” describes the person who feels it. Although “exhilarating” is the more familiar member of the word family, “exhilarative” has a slightly more formal, emphatic tone and highlights the active source of the excitement. In general writing, it is often best replaced by “invigorating” or “electrifying” when those simpler terms convey the intended idea. Knowing it nevertheless adds a precise and memorable way to describe something that genuinely awakens the spirits.
adjectiveCausing or tending to cause exhilaration; strongly invigorating, stirring, or cheering.
- Causing or tending to cause a feeling of intense excitement, energy, and delight.
"The explorer's account of the expedition was so exhilarating that the audience found the final revelation utterly exhilarative."
"The descent through the canyon was exhilarating, but the sudden appearance of the underground river was truly exhilarative."
"Critics found the experimental production visually exhilarating and its final sequence deeply exhilarative."
Its Latin ancestor means “to cheer or enliven,” so “exhilarative” literally carries the idea of making people merry.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of exhilarative
Exhilarative derives from the Latin verb exhilarare, meaning “to cheer” or “to enliven,” which was formed from hilarus, meaning “cheerful” or “merry.” The prefix ex- intensifies the sense of enlivening rather than carrying its modern English sense of “out of.” English subsequently developed related forms such as exhilarate, exhilarating, and exhilaration from this Latin verb.
How exhilarative is actually used
This is a formal and relatively uncommon word with a slightly literary or emphatic tone. It is normally used to describe something that produces excitement or renewed energy. In general writing, “exhilarating,” “invigorating,” or “electrifying” will often be more natural.
Easily confused with exhilarative
“Exhilarating” commonly describes an experience as exciting or invigorating, while “exhilarative” more explicitly identifies something as the source of that effect.
“Exhilarated” describes the person who feels excitement, whereas “exhilarative” describes a person, experience, or thing that produces the excitement.