excel
Americanverb (used without object)
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excels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
excelled,
past participle, past
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excelling
present participle
verb (used with object)
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excels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
excelled,
past participle, past
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excelling
present participle
verb
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to be superior to (another or others); surpass
-
(intr; foll by in or at) to be outstandingly good or proficient
he excels at tennis
Synonym Usage
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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excelsimple
-
excelssimple
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have excelledperfect
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has excelledperfect
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am excellingprogressive
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are excellingprogressive
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is excellingprogressive
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have been excellingperfect progressive
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has been excellingperfect progressive
Past
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excelledsimple
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had excelledperfect
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was excellingprogressive
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were excellingprogressive
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had been excellingperfect progressive
Future
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”)
Explanation
If you excel at math, you are doing it better than anyone else. You might even be moving so much faster than the rest of your class, you're put into a special, accelerated math program. Excel derives from the Latin excellere, which is all about going beyond the high. Someone who excels at the violin might practice five hours a day because they are striving for excellence, meaning outstanding-ness. You could describe their performance as excellent, or fantastic. That doesn't mean you yourself want to practice five hours a day. Excel means to stand out, and some of us are pretty happy standing right where we are.
Vocabulary lists containing excel
Power Prefix: ex-
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"The Civil Rights Movement"
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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:
Yet jet drones are the kind of target F-16s excel at taking down, and at a typical cost of $25,000 or less.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
The first deaf player to excel in the major leagues was Billy “Dummy” Hoy, an outfielder who debuted for the Washington Nationals in 1888.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
“It’s an example of United Airlines being creative and putting destinations on the map where I don’t think any other airline would think about it, because you can’t square it off in an excel spreadsheet.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
In her book and in the media, Panettiere has discussed the pressure her mother placed on her to excel as an actress from an early age.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Elizebeth rooted for her readers even as she pushed them to excel.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Although Cousins is in the twilight of his career, he has thrown a league-high nine touchdown passes, thriving in a system that emphasizes play action schemes and quickly diagnosing coverages, two areas where Cousins excels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Google said Argon excels at complex tasks in software engineering, legal and financial work and cyber defense, with a leading ability to find and fix critical software flaws.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
This is where the documentary excels - capturing the sheer surge of affection that greeted Oasis's return.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Without that piece of information, adults and kids alike may not understand why a child who excels academically struggles with seemingly simpler tasks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
I don’t actually know this, but Camille excels at everything she tries—school, band, friends.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Tishler, Mr. Werth writes, excelled at the “unglamorous work” of making crude laboratory processes work at scale.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
I always excelled at swimming, so it’s the one thing I still love to do.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
As the new property manager of Parkwood Apartments, a squat complex of 175 low-rise apartments and townhouses in the San Diego suburbs, she says she excelled.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
That is why the manner in which Everton handle Forest's approach for Armstrong, who has already excelled this season, may be a defining moment for TFG and Moyes.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
As a saber fencer, Peter excelled on his high school’s fencing team and was recruited with a fencing scholarship to attend New York University, one of the best collegiate fencing schools in the country.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Lincoln Riley talks a big game about excelling in the Big Ten, but in losing badly to Oregon and its backup quarterback, USC probably couldn’t win the Pac-12 this year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
There was nothing wrong with the Madison, N.J., public school Ankur Jain’s 11-year-old son attended: Arjan was happy and excelling academically.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
It is only logical that a natural forward player like Dembele in those situations has been able to thrive instead, excelling against Senegal before scoring a first-half hat-trick against Norway from that right-wing position.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
And Brighton's sustainable model of success has come from hiring coaches who seek to impose themselves on the game through possession, with Roberto de Zerbi and Fabian Hurzeler excelling.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
Despite excelling there, and getting high SAT scores, he didn’t get his first college choices.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
