exalt
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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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A Christmas Carol
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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:
“God gave me a mother who worked her entire life for me,” said Hernández, who eased on his elastic goofball schtick to exalt immigrant mothers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Perhaps if we exalt good lighting for watching media in our homes, word will get back to Hollywood.
From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025
“The Fall Guy” may exalt anonymous film workers, but it’s lifted by the charisma and chemistry of its two leading stars.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
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
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
Mr. Maher complains about this, saying that while the Constitution gives primacy of power to Congress, in its current form the State of the Union exalts the president while diminishing the legislative branch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
The glittering uniform exalts Caballero, but a hand is just a hand — unless, of course, it’s the artist’s own hand, proudly displayed via all that eye-boggling brushwork.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2023
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
Said He, whoever exalts himself, shall be humbled, and he who is humbled shall become exalted.
From Where Love Is There God Is Also by Tolstoy, Leo, graf
“We have some recordings of one of your exalted candidates doing and saying something that would make her resign in shame,” said Pratt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
In that, he is in exalted company - Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher are the others.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
Italy proved they belonged in exalted company against England, one of the pre-tournament favourites.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
His novel “Caleb Williams” introduces an embattled young hero, born poor and largely self-educated, who perceives justice in exalted terms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
People aren’t ordinarily carried in chairs in New Hampshire, and as they raised him up he looked very strange to me, like some tragic and exalted personage, a stricken pontiff.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
“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
“I’ve danced my whole life and dance is such an exalting, exciting human expression,” Zakowska says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
