exhilaration
noun
Simple meaning
Enlivening the spirits.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihgzihlerayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪɡzɪlɚˈeɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The state of being enlivened, cheerful or exhilarated.
The act of enlivening the spirits; the act of making glad or cheerful; a gladdening.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The state of being enlivened, cheerful or exhilarated.
In this sense, exhilaration is a very strong, expressive word and describes happiness at its peak, so it overstates ordinary pleasure.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Very strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Warm and admiring
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
Usage note
Exhilaration is emotionally heavy: it suggests deep or lasting feeling, not a passing mood, so it can overstate a small reaction.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.