exceed
Americanverb (used with object)
-
exceeds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exceeded,
past participle, past
-
exceeding
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
exceeds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exceeded,
past participle, past
-
exceeding
present participle
-
to be greater, as in quantity or degree.
-
to surpass others; excel or be superior.
verb
-
to be superior to (a person or thing), esp in size or quality; excel
-
(tr) to go beyond the limit or bounds of
to exceed one's income
exceed a speed limit
-
to be greater in degree or quantity than (a person or thing)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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exceedernoun
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superexceedverb (used without object)
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exceedableadjective
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unexceedableadjective
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unexceededadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
exceedsimple
-
exceedssimple
-
have exceededperfect
-
has exceededperfect
-
am exceedingprogressive
-
are exceedingprogressive
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is exceedingprogressive
-
have been exceedingperfect progressive
-
has been exceedingperfect progressive
Past
-
exceededsimple
-
had exceededperfect
-
was exceedingprogressive
-
were exceedingprogressive
-
had been exceedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exceed
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English exceden, from Latin excēdere “to go out, go beyond”; equivalent to ex- 1 + cede
Explanation
To exceed is to go beyond expectations, or to go too far. If you exceed the speed limit, you might get a speeding ticket. Exceed and excess share the Latin root excedere meaning to "go beyond." An excess is too much of something, like the piles of candy after Halloween, and exceed means the action of going too far in a good or bad way. You exceed in school when you get straight A's. When Dr. Jekyll transforms into Mr. Hyde, he experiences "a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death." No thanks! It helps to remember that like speed, exceed ends with -eed.
Vocabulary lists containing exceed
Power Prefix: ex-
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The Bill of Rights
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 3
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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:
Latest forecasts from the Met Office suggest that these temperature anomalies could exceed 3C later this year as El Niño nears its peak.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
He expects Dell’s AI and enterprise businesses to exceed expectations, and for the company to see between 50% and 60% growth in total revenue.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
But there is now a 69% chance that this El Niño will reach or exceed that threshold in the tropical Pacific.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
In that scenario, the supply of computing capacity would exceed demand, providers would lose their pricing power, margins would tumble—and so-called “neocloud” companies like CoreWeave could take the biggest hit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
At eight or nine digits, the local telephone number would exceed the human channel capacity: there would be many more wrong numbers.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Breast cancer rates have climbed across nearly every Asian American ethnic group at a pace that exceeds increases seen in any other U.S. ethnic group.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
Duke wrote that “we face a persistent challenge: a shortage of skilled workers. The demand for craft labor, engineering talent and project management experience exceeds supply.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
But they note in some districts the percentage of foreign owners already exceeds the 15 percent limit, particularly in "territories endowed with water and mineral resources, or logistical advantages," such as ports.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
That figure far exceeds the 22 total closures seen in all of 2025, while accounting for about 43% of all U.S.-listed ETF closures this year.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
For sheer grandeur, scale, and intimidation value, I doubt if any corporate orientation exceeds that of Wal-Mart.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
“Our second quarter results exceeded our expectations,” Richard McPhail, chief financial officer at the Atlanta-based company, said in a statement.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
As of the end of this July, the agency said it has exceeded both the number of awards issued and funding promised, compared with the same point last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Tariff refunds have exceeded $100 billion, with companies treating the proceeds as a one-time windfall to increase marketing budgets and offset costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Count Binface -- the alter ego of comedian Jon Harvey -- exceeded expectations, however, taking 9,455 votes, 27 percent of the total.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
By 11:00 P.M. the night before, the pressure had already exceeded the maximum that the vessel was meant to hold.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
See this as an opportunity to show management that you are a team player and exceeding expectations.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
During a hearing last week, a lawyer for the states said they are seeking around $200 billion -- not penalties exceeding $1 trillion, as Meta had claimed in a court filing.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Revenue climbed to a new record, exceeding Wall Street’s expectations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
By Sunday and into next week temperatures will rise even further with many parts of the UK exceeding their heatwave threshold temperature of 25 to 28C, depending on location.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
“Now then, wooden head!” said the woman with exceeding sharpness, and Wang Lung jumped at the sound of her voice, so unexpected was its shrillness.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
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.
