It's the Word of the Day podcast for March 2nd.
Today's word is exhilarate, spelled E-X-H-I-L-A-R-A-T-E.
Exhilarate is a verb.
It means to cause someone to feel very happy and excited.
It's usually used in the passive voice, as in to be exhilarated.
Here's the word used in a sentence from the Chicago Tribune.
I'll say it, winter is my favorite season for jazz in Chicago.
Summer may be busier and splashier, but there's nothing quite like nestling into a darkened club,
cheeks flushed from the cold for a singular and inventive night of music.
It does more than thaw frozen fingers.
It exhilarates, inspires, and inflames in the best way.
Many people find the word exhilarate a difficult one to spell.
It's easy to forget that silent H in there.
And is it an ER or AR after the L?
It may be easier to remember the spelling
if you know that exhilarate ultimately comes from the Latin adjective hilarius,
meaning cheerful.
This also explains why the earliest meaning of exhilarate is to make cheerful.
Exhilarate comes from exhilaratus, a form of exhilarare, which combines ex with hilarare,
a verb from hilarus that means to cheer or gladden.