exhilarate
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪɡˈzɪləɹeɪt/
ipa: /ɛɡ-/
ipa: /ɪɡˈzɪləˌɹeɪt/
ipa: /ɛɡ-/
Forms: form: exhilarates
form: exhilarating
form: exhilarated
form: exhilarated
Etymology: From Latin exhilarō (“to delight, to gladden, to make merry”), from ex- (“out, away”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”)) + hilarō (“to cheer, to gladden”), from hilaris (“cheerful, light-hearted, lively”), from Ancient Greek ἱλαρός (hilarós, “cheerful, merry”), from ἵλαος (hílaos, “gracious, kind, propitious”), from Proto-Indo-European *selh₂- (“comfort, mercy”).
Senses: examples: text: Good news exhilarates the mind; wine exhilarates the drinker.
text: For the Philiſtian preſcribeth Cures of the minde in Phrenſies, and melancholy Paſsions; and pretendeth alſo to exhibite Medicines to exhilarate the minde, to confirme the courage, to clarifie the wits, to corroborate the memorie, and the like; but the ſcruples and ſuperſtitions of Diet, and other Regiment of the body in the ſect of the Pythagoreans, in the Hereſy of the Manicheas, and in the Lawe of Mahumes doe exceede; […]
ref: 1605, Francis Bacon, The Tvvoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane. To the King, book II, London: Printed [by Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, and are to be sould at his shop at Graies Inne Gate in Holborne, →OCLC, page 37, recto:
text: Any and ſundry are the meanes, which Philoſophers and Phyſicians haue preſcribed to exhilarate a ſorrowfull heart, to diuert thoſe fixed and intent cares and meditations, which in this malady ſo much offend; but in my judgement none ſo preſent, none ſo powerfull, none ſo [a]ppoſite as a cup of ſtrong drinke, mirth, muſicke, and merry company.
ref: 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Musicke a Remedy”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 2, member 6, subsection 3, page 276:
text: [Y]ea many gods, / Had voices more than all the winds, with power / To exhilarate the spirit, and to soothe, / Through every clime, the heart of human kind. / While this was uttering, strange as it may seem, / I wondered not, although I plainly saw / The one to be a stone, the other a shell; […]
ref: 1799–1805 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Book V. Books.”, in The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet’s Mind; an Autobiographical Poem, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 111:
text: I slept soundly, and without feeling the least uneasiness, and am a great deal better this morning; neither do I find that the henbane has affected my head, which, from the great effect it had on me,—exhilarating me to the most extraordinary degree, and yet keeping me sleepy,—I feared it would.
ref: 1838 November 1, Charles Dickens, “XV. Mrs. Charles Dickens.”, in Life, Letters, and Speeches of Charles Dickens with Biographical Sketches of the Principal Illustrators of Dickens’s Works: Illustrated with Engravings on Steel: In Two Volumes, volume I, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company; The Riverside Press Cambridge [Mass.], published 1894, →OCLC, page 118:
text: It is now for us to say, that with very considerable powers of fancy, and a deep feeling of enthusiasm, he [James G. Small] has described the scenes of his romantic rambles, and recorded the historical or traditional events for which he cherishes such a warm veneration, in song that by turns exhilarates, captivates, and melts; and that will especially arouse Scotland's associations.
ref: 1843 June, “Art. XI. The Highlands, The Scottish Martyrs, and Other Poems. By the Rev. James G. Small. Edin. Whyte & Co.”, in The Monthly Review (New and Improved Series), volume II, number II, London: G. Henderson, 2, Old Bailey, Ludgate-Hill, →OCLC, page 235:
text: Returning to their desks at the beginning of April 1966, exhilarated by the size of the Labour majority, Ministers found that there had been no improvement in the economic outlook while they had been away; indeed it had grown worse.
ref: 1978, Michael Stewart, “The Light that Failed: April 1966 – June 1970”, in Politics & Economic Policy in the UK since 1964: The Jekyll & Hyde Years, Oxford: Pergamon Press, →ISBN, page 64:
synonyms: word: blissen
word: enliven
word: light up
word: stimulate
word: animate
word: arouse
word: awaken
word: beghast
word: leaven
word: bright
word: brighten
word: cheer
word: energize
word: enliven
word: enthuse
word: exalt
word: excite
word: fire up
word: ginger
word: ginger up
word: inflame
word: invigorate
word: inspire
word: inspirit
word: jazz
word: kindle
word: liven
word: liven up
word: perk up
word: quicken
word: spice
word: spice up
word: stimulate
word: vitalise
word: beatify
word: begladden
word: blissen
word: bright
word: cheer
word: cheer up
word: content
word: delight
word: elate
word: enbliss
word: exhilarate
word: fain
word: gay
word: gladden
word: gladden someone's heart
word: gratify
word: happify
word: happy
word: hearten
word: jollify
word: laetificate
word: light up
word: make someone's day
word: perk up
word: please
word: raise someone's spirits
word: rejoice
word: turn the frown upside down
word: upcheer
word: warm someone's heart
word: warm the cockles of someone's heart
glosses: To cheer, to cheer up, to gladden, to make happy, to elate.
examples: text: [A]lcohol, as all the world knows, or should know, does not nourish, but only stimulates,—exhilarates if you will, but exhilarates as fire exhilarates! Would carbon or any other combustible exhilarate only to burn up, consume, and destroy?
ref: 1856, Joel Pinney, “The Effects of Alcoholic Liquors, and the Customs of Drinking and Inebriety”, in The Duration of Human Life and Its Three Eras: When Men Attained to More than Nine Hundred Years of Age; when They Attained to Only Four Hundred and Fifty; when They Reached to Only Threescore Years and Ten; Shewing the Probable Causes and Material Agents that have Shortened the Lives of the Human Race, and the Barriers that Prevent a Return to the Longevity of the Early Patriarchs, London: Longman & Co., →OCLC, page 116:
text: Harriet became suddenly conscious that every woman in the room was gazing furtively or with frank interest at Wimsey and herself, and the knowledge exhilarated her.
ref: 1932, Dorothy L Sayers, chapter 12, in Have his Carcase:
synonyms: word: electrify
word: work up
word: animate
word: awaken
word: electrify
word: enflame
word: enkindle
word: enthrill
word: exagitate
word: excite
word: exhilarate
word: exsuscitate
word: fillip
word: fire
word: fire the blood
word: galvanize
word: gin up
word: ignite
word: inflame
word: intoxicate
word: kindle
word: quicken
word: rouse
word: send
word: set fire to
word: set on fire
word: sharpen
word: stir the blood
word: suscitate
word: thrill
word: vitalise
word: wake
word: warm the blood
word: whet
word: wind up
word: work up
word: yerk
glosses: To excite, to thrill.
Derived terms: exhilarant
exhilarating
exhilaratingly
exhilaration
exhilarative
exhilarator
exhilaratory
Related terms: hilarious
hilariously
hilariousness
hilarity
Hilary