exalt

[ ig-zawlt ]

/ ɪgˈzɔlt /

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verb (used with object)

to raise in rank, honor, power, character, quality, etc.; elevate: He was exalted to the position of president.

to praise; extol: to exalt someone to the skies.

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.

Nearby words

exaggerate, exaggerated, exaggeration, exaggerative, exahertz, exalt, exaltation, exalted, exam, exam., examen

Origin of exalt

1375–1425; late Middle English exalten < Latin exaltāre to lift up, equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + alt(us) high + -āre infinitive ending

SYNONYMS FOR exalt

1 promote, dignify, raise, ennoble.

2 glorify.

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ANTONYMS FOR exalt

1 humble.

2 depreciate.

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Related forms

ex·alt·er, nounself-ex·alt·ing, adjectivesu·per·ex·alt, verb (used with object)un·ex·alt·ing, adjective

Can be confused

exalt exult

Synonym study

1. See elevate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for exalting

Exert your royal gifts in exalting only the lowly and humbling only the proud.
Notes of a Son and Brother|Henry James
By exalting apathy in regard to personal suffering, it becomes insensible to others' pain also.
Apologia Diffidentis|W. Compton Leith
There is nothing more easy than to vaporize reality altogether, by way of exalting a philosophy.
The Philosophy of Natural Theology|William Jackson
It appears to place substances to which it is affixed in a superlative sense, and always as exalting the object.
Personal Memoirs Of A Residence Of Thirty Years With The Indian Tribes On The American Frontiers|Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

It may be urged that in exalting Hales I am unfair to Malpighi.
Makers of British Botany; a collection of biographies by living botanists|Various

British Dictionary definitions for exalting

exalt

/ (ɪɡˈzɔːlt) /

verb (tr)

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

Derived Forms

exalter, noun

Word Origin for exalt

C15: from Latin exaltāre to raise, from altus high

usage

Exalt is sometimes wrongly used where exult is meant: he was exulting (not exalting) in his win earlier that day

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