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
Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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
My language has always been that of liberty and humanity, and I know by experience that nothing so exalts a nation as the union of these two principles, under all circumstances.
From The Life Of Thomas Paine, Vol. II. (of II) With A History of His Literary, Political and Religious Career in America France, and England by Moncure Daniel Conway
Duchamp’s obsession with appearing detached from conventional aesthetic judgments elevated him to an exalted status among his peers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 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
Italy proved they belonged in exalted company against England, one of the pre-tournament favourites.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
“Our Chief Powhatan is much better than your king,” Namontack says, speaking in Algonquian so that the gentlemen will not hear his assessment of our exalted king.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
His “more real” is frustrating, pleasurable, terrifying, exalting, and as familiar as our own peculiar families.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 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
TV viewers can watch the massive Globo network’s seven-year campaign exalting the sector.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
Instead of exalting form over substance, courts should recognize the humanism of legal dilemmas and focus on it.
From Salon ● Feb. 16, 2024
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.
