When to use breathtaking?

You could say that. Breathtaking is a pretty hyperbolic word, so it would have to be a really, really good cake.

Breathtaking is usually used for visual stimuli, like a beautiful landscape, person, photo, or cinematography, e.g.: “I rounded the corner and the waterfall suddenly came into view. It was breathtaking.” Interestingly, “it took my breath away” means the same thing but is used more generally. Something that startles you, or riding a roller coaster, or even a intense flavor can “take your breath away”, but you would not say they are “breathtaking”.

Breathtaking is usually for visual stuff. People, nature, stuff like that. You could use breathtaking about a cake, but if you just said "this cake is breathtaking!" most people would assume you mean the decorative aspect. A "delicious" or "really good" usually does the job.

you probably could say that to mean a very good cake. the word breathtaking means basically the same thing as the word mindblowing.

I think it would sound very unnatural to describe a delicious cake as breathtaking. Breathtaking is usually only used for things that are visually beautiful like a work of art for a beautiful place. You could also describe someone who looks really beautiful as breathtakingly beautiful. Especially if that person is dressed up or styled in a particularly elaborate way (like a bride on her wedding day, for example). I suppose you could also describe music as breathtaking. To describe a symphony or a song as breathtaking sounds okay to me. I think it would be very weird to describe the flavor of food that way though As for *when* to use the word breathtaking, I would only ever use it if the thing I were describing had a truly profound effect on me. Breathtaking is not used to describe common, everyday things. It’s a word to describe something that is uniquely beautiful. If you see something so beautiful or inspiring that it causes you to stop and stare, then it’s a good word to use.

When referring to Keanu Reeves.

i suppose it's an alternative form of the phrase "in awe" as in immense amazement, though the grammar and form is quite different

If you see smtg that makes you go crazy, then you can use it, people would never say "oh man yo cake is breathtaking"--unless they mean it literally or your cake is visually appealing.

Not in normal conversation, per se. I can see where you might think "breathtaking" fits. But "breathtaking" to describe something you can eat is not used so much in typical English conversation. If something is breathtaking, it might be something visual. if I ever was lucky enough to see Mt. Fuji in person, I might say that the "views are breathtaking." Or a person could be breathtaking. When I saw my wife in her wedding dress for the first time, she looked "breathtakingly beautiful." But for eating and taste, you might use "mouthwatering," or "that looks good enough to eat." or something looks "delicious." I hope that helps.

I mean, you could, but people would see that as being rather dramatic. "Breathtaking" in the literal sense applies to things that interrupt your normal breathing pattern. Like when you see something that makes you gasp and go all wide-eyed and stammering. Some people have that level of reaction to good food, but most do not. For most people, this sort of reaction only comes from visually striking things (like incredibly beautiful or awe-inspiring nature or deeply attractive people)

Breathtaking is normally for beauty. Her dress was breathtaking, the view from the observation deck was breathtaking, the deep blue of the ocean was breathtaking. For a taste, like cake, you might say divine, sublime, heavenly, mind-blowing, things like that.

Usually you use breathtaking when you want to express that something looks very beautiful (as in it is so beautiful it takes your breath away, almost any expression used to implicate that something is beautiful, like wow or oh, is basically you breathing out for a while). Now I don't know whether it's actually incorrect to use breathtaking to refer to a cake tasting very good but it's very unusual at the least.

If you're allergic to peanuts and eat a peanut butter sandwich I'd say it's breathtaking, but otherwise I'd say it's usually used for things you see. "A breathtaking view" etc