Synonyms

excel

American

[ik-sel] / ɪkˈsɛl /

verb (used without object)

excelled, excelling

to surpass others or be superior in some respect or area; do extremely well.

to excel in math.

verb (used with object)

excelled, excelling

to surpass; be superior to; outdo.

He excels all other poets of his day.

Synonyms:

beat, top, exceed, transcend, eclipse, outstrip

excel British

/ ɪkˈsɛl /

verb

to be superior to (another or others); surpass
(intr; foll by in or at) to be outstandingly good or proficient

he excels at tennis

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

Excel, outdo, surpass imply being better than others or being superior in achievement. To excel is to be superior in some quality, attainment, or performance: to excel opponents at playing chess. To outdo is to make more successful effort than others: to outdo competitors in the high jump. To surpass is to go beyond others, especially in a contest as to quality or ability: to surpass one's classmates in knowledge of corporation law.

Other Word Forms

unexcelled adjective
unexcelling adjective

Etymology

Origin of excel

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French exceller, from Latin excellere, equivalent to ex- ex- ¹ + -cellere “to rise high, tower” (akin to celsus “high”)

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.

“I was never a straight-A student. I was never one that excelled,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal

"I'm probably taking on a dad role. Seeing how much they're excelling, it's just really exciting for me to watch and wonder where it could go."

From BBC

Text-prediction large language models do exactly the task that people with aphasia struggle with, and they really excel at finding the next word in a sequence.

From The Wall Street Journal

I don’t actually know this, but Camille excels at everything she tries—school, band, friends.

From Literature

They found that, while the AI chatbots now "excel at standardised tests of medical knowledge", its use as a medical tool would "pose risks to real users seeking help with their own medical symptoms".

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023