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
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(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:
Mason Mount did excel alongside Santos in the first three games of pre-season, but he has been struggling to overcome a foot problem he suffered against Paris St-Germain in Gothenburg on 8 August.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
After their seasons of struggle at Tottenham and Chelsea respectively, few probably expected Porro and Cucurella to excel at this World Cup, but their competitive quality has shone in North America.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
The boy decided to excel at football after being picked last for a recess game in fifth grade, Obrokta said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Today’s AI models can excel at single tasks, such as translation or image generation, but they cannot reason like a human.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
In my blinding drive to excel, in my need to do things perfectly, I’d missed the signs and taken the wrong road.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
But where the PetPhone genuinely excels is location tracking.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026
For instance, AI excels at tasks with clear structures such as coding, legal-document review and financial analysis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
Microlensing, which is expected to reveal more than 1,000 worlds, excels at finding planets farther from their stars, including systems that resemble our own solar system.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 1, 2026
Harris not only excels on the oval, but also on the gridiron.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
This is one area Marv excels and delights in.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
Khan was voted in by millions of Pakistanis who grew up watching him play cricket, where he excelled as an all-rounder and led the nation to a World Cup victory in 1992.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Centre-back Malachi Hardy, 18, is another youngster who has earned praise from De Zerbi and excelled in the 2-1 win over Chelsea.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
In both tone and structure, it harks back to the kind of theatrical properties that May and Lotta excelled in during the first half of the 20th century.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
He says that Lorne is someone who always excelled at deadlines.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
It was the sort of response Toby excelled at when he felt slighted.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
The South Korean shed tears of joy and relief after excelling on a compelling final day at the Genesis Scottish Open to claim his first title in three years.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 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
But his brother Craig’s memorializing of him, “Armed Only With a Camera,” is oddly uninvolving, more an excerpted flipbook of Brent’s far-flung assignments than a meaningful portrait of excelling at a dangerous job.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
In high school, Jackson did well - being elected as class president and excelling in nearly every kind of team sport.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2026
He wasn’t exactly excelling in the classroom, and his disenchantment with school was beginning to wear on him.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
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.
