Intoxicating

Intoxicating is an adjective used to describe something that causes intoxication or overwhelms the senses. It is most often applied to psychoactive substances such as alcohol, cannabis, opioids, or other drugs that impair judgment, coordination, or perception. The term can also be used in a figurative sense to describe experiences, atmospheres, or scents that are particularly alluring, powerful, or heady.

Etymology and scope: The word comes from Latin intoxicatus, from intoxicare, meaning to poison or stupefy; it entered English with senses related to poisoning and drunkenness. In legal and regulatory language, “intoxicating liquor” or “intoxicating beverages” denotes substances capable of causing intoxication, and such categories often determine taxation, licensing, and age-restriction rules. The term is not a precise pharmacological category but a qualitative descriptor.

Physiological and cultural notes: The effects of intoxicants vary by substance; alcohol acts primarily as a central nervous system depressant, while other drugs have distinct mechanisms. In literature and everyday speech, intoxicating can express attraction, excitement, danger, or exhilaration, as in “an intoxicating perfume” or “an intoxicating night.”