exalt
Americanverb (used with object)
-
exalts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exalted,
past participle, past
-
exalting
present participle
-
to raise in rank, honor, power, character, quality, etc.; elevate.
He was exalted to the position of president.
- Antonyms:
- humble
-
to praise; extol.
to exalt someone to the skies.
- Synonyms:
- glorify
- Antonyms:
- depreciate
-
to stimulate, as the imagination.
The lyrics of Shakespeare exalted the audience.
-
to intensify, as a color.
complementary colors exalt each other.
-
Obsolete. to elate, as with pride or joy.
verb
-
to raise or elevate in rank, position, dignity, etc
-
to praise highly; glorify; extol
-
to stimulate the mind or imagination of; excite
-
to increase the intensity of (a colour, etc)
-
to fill with joy or delight; elate
-
obsolete to lift up physically
Usage
Exalt is sometimes wrongly used where exult is meant: he was exulting (not exalting ) in his win earlier that day
Synonym Usage
See elevate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
exaltsimple
-
exaltssimple
-
have exaltedperfect
-
has exaltedperfect
-
am exaltingprogressive
-
are exaltingprogressive
-
is exaltingprogressive
-
have been exaltingperfect progressive
-
has been exaltingperfect progressive
Past
-
exaltedsimple
-
had exaltedperfect
-
was exaltingprogressive
-
were exaltingprogressive
-
had been exaltingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exalt
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English exalten, from Latin exaltāre “to lift up,” from ex- ex- 1 + alt(us) “high” + -āre, infinitive verb ending
Explanation
You might like your manager, but if you exalt her, it means you really put her on a pedestal and treat her like royalty. To exalt is to hold or raise someone up to a high position or status. It doesn't have to mean literally putting that person into a high position, but instead treating them almost like nobility. Overly doting parents exalt their infant to the point where they praise him every time he wets his diaper and call the neighbors over every time he coos.
Vocabulary lists containing exalt
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Power Prefix: ex-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
So to be holding that space and then to also be in this creator space that people respect and exalt in some sort of way is crazy to me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2025
Perhaps if we exalt good lighting for watching media in our homes, word will get back to Hollywood.
From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025
Francis “certainly didn’t want to exalt imperialistic logic or government personalities, who were cited to indicate certain historic periods of reference,” Bruni said in a statement.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 29, 2023
She could exalt a good hot dog as much as a sublime black truffle.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 6, 2023
His reputation with the Army was at stake, and his ambition to conquer Troy and exalt Greece.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
He echoes throughout her work, in her sense of ecstasy, in how she exalts the world around her, down to the humble leaf of grass.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Southern Company exalts Plant Vogtle as a key clean energy asset.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
But that's the kind of thing that our culture exalts these days.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2023
Elvis doesn’t really do speeches, but when he sings, it exalts us all.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2022
It exalts them into ideals, and fires the hearts of the people to devotion and sacrifice for their fulfilment.
From Special Method in the Reading of Complete English Classics In the Grades of the Common School by Charles A. (Charles Alexander) McMurry
In so doing, he provided a performance that served as a reminder that he has been one of the drivers of the year, even if his equipment has not always met his exalted standards.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2026
She had an exalted view of her role as first lady, sometimes seeming to regard herself as a sort of deputy president.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
In that, he is in exalted company - Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher are the others.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
Bagharzadeh was the wife of Ali Khamenei but despite her husband's exalted position a figure of the lowest of profiles in Iran.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
He writes that Vincent's technique matches his temperament: “vigorous, exalted, brutal, intense.”
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
“Forever wild, forever free … Latina foreva,” she recited from backstage, kicking off her set with the slinky reggaeton number of the same name — exalting the primordial goddess that lives inside every Latina.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
“I can’t describe how beautiful, calm, sacred, exciting, and exalting it was. It was just a dream,” she told the outlet.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 29, 2025
She was an artful, innovative interpreter of other people’s songs, in the vein of Frank Sinatra, in an era when audiences—and especially critics—were exalting the singer-songwriter model instead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
At the same time, they're exalting a completely fictitious and unrealistic fantasy of a "golden age."
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2025
The music stopped and the guests gathered in the main hall where a small, innocent priest, adorned with the vestments of high mass, read the complicated sermon he had written exalting confused and impracticable virtues.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
