ex·cit·ing

[ik-sahy-ting]
adjective
producing excitement; stirring; thrilling: an exciting account of his trip to Tibet.

Origin:
1805–15; excite + -ing2

ex·cit·ing·ly, adverb
non·ex·cit·ing, adjective
un·ex·cit·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged

ex·cite

[ik-sahyt]
verb (used with object), ex·cit·ed, ex·cit·ing.
1.
to arouse or stir up the emotions or feelings of: to excite a person to anger; actions that excited his father's wrath.
2.
to arouse or stir up (emotions or feelings): to excite jealousy or hatred.
3.
to cause; awaken: to excite interest or curiosity.
4.
to stir to action; provoke or stir up: to excite a dog by baiting him.
5.
Physiology. to stimulate: to excite a nerve.
6.
Electricity. to supply with electricity for producing electric activity or a magnetic field: to excite a dynamo.
7.
Physics. to raise (an atom, molecule, etc.) to an excited state.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English < Latin excitāre, equivalent to ex- ex-1 + citāre, frequentative of ciēre to set in motion

pre·ex·cite, verb (used with object), pre·ex·cit·ed, pre·ex·cit·ing.


1. stir, awaken, stimulate, animate, kindle, inflame. 2. evoke. 4. disturb, agitate, ruffle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To exciting
00:10
Exciting is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
Collins
World English Dictionary
excite (ɪkˈsaɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
1.  to arouse (a person) to strong feeling, esp to pleasurable anticipation or nervous agitation
2.  to arouse or elicit (an emotion, response, etc); evoke: her answers excited curiosity
3.  to cause or bring about; stir up: to excite a rebellion
4.  to arouse sexually
5.  physiol to cause a response in or increase the activity of (an organ, tissue, or part); stimulate
6.  to raise (an atom, molecule, electron, nucleus, etc) from the ground state to a higher energy level
7.  to supply electricity to (the coils of a generator or motor) in order to create a magnetic field
8.  to supply a signal to a stage of an active electronic circuit
 
[C14: from Latin excitāre, from exciēre to stimulate, from ciēre to set in motion, rouse]

exciting (ɪkˈsaɪtɪŋ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
causing excitement; stirring; stimulating
 
ex'citingly
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

excite
mid-14c., "to move, instigate," from L. excitare "rouse, produce," freq. of exciere "call forth, instigate," from ex- "out" + ciere "set in motion, call" (see cite). Main modern sense of "emotionally agitate" is first attested 1821.

exciting
1811, "causing disease;" sense of "causing excitement" is from 1826 (see excite).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Working on what you love is really exciting and a lot of fun.
Discovery of a new dinosaur is always an exciting event.
The idea was to eliminate some of the boring touchbacks and create more
  opportunities for exciting returns.
Even if you can barely follow the language, it's exciting.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT