Language tip of the week: exciting synonyms

In this weekly post, we bring more useful content from the Macmillan Dictionary to English language learners. These tips are based on areas of English which learners find difficult, e.g. spelling, grammar, collocation, synonyms, etc.

This week’s language tip gives useful advice on the adjective excited:

Adjectives for describing things that make someone feel excited:
exciting making you feel excited and enthusiastic:
This is the most exciting project I’ve ever worked on. ♦ an exciting opportunity ♦ Most people find New York very exciting.
thrilling extremely exciting, often used about sporting events:
France lost to Wales 34–33 in a thrilling match in Paris.
exhilarating making you feel happy, excited, and full of energy:
I spent an exhilarating day cruising the river.
♦ an exhausting but exhilarating climb
gripping very exciting and interesting, used especially about books, films, sporting events etc that are so exciting that you can’t stop reading or watching them:
A crowd of 8000 witnessed the gripping final chapter of a remarkable contest.
♦ a gripping account of the disaster
dramatic exciting and interesting, often used about sporting events that are very exciting, especially at the end:
His side lost 6–1 in a remarkable game with a dramatic finale.

Frequent collocations
Nouns frequently used with thrilling:

battle, climax, contest, end, ending, final, finish, game, match, victory

Nouns frequently used with gripping:

account, drama, episode, story, tale

Nouns frequently used with dramatic:

end, ending, final, finale, finish, victory

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