adrenaline junkie

plural adrenaline junkies

1. colloquialOne who is seemingly addicted to the sensation of exhilaration associated with risky behaviors or exciting situations, and who actively seeks such opportunities.

   Many football, basketball, and hockey players, boxers, wrestlers, cage fighters, hunters, bikers, NASCAR drivers, matadors, and rodeo cowboys are adrenaline junkies.

   3 more examples

   More than 300 daredevils parachuted off the nation's second-highest bridge in an annual ritual that attracts thousands of spectators. "Everybody out here is an adrenaline junkie," parachutist Mike Cleary, 27, of Milwaukee, said yesterday.

   1991 October 20, “300 parachutists leap into gorge”, in Toledo Blade, retrieved 16 Nov 2013, page A3

   "I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, so I love to go out there and do kind of crazy stuff, which is slightly outrageous, like bungee jumping, skydiving, surfing and that sort of stuff."

   2002 Jan. 17, Christy Lemire, "Success of 'Lord of the Rings' puts actor Bloom in the spotlight,' Daily Gazette, p. C7 (retrieved 16 Nov 2013)

   Since then, the adrenaline junkie has been getting his kicks from a variety of extreme sports, such as skydiving and racing motorcycles and go-carts.

   2009 July 30, “Schumacher's F1 Comeback: An Adrenaline Junkie Returns to the Racetrack”, in Spiegel Online International, retrieved 16 Nov 2013

   Synonyms: daredevil, thrill seeker