excel
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
-
to be superior to (another or others); surpass
-
(intr; foll by in or at) to be outstandingly good or proficient
he excels at tennis
Related Words
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
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.
Human auditors, for years, pulled a finite sample of these items, extracted the data into an Excel spreadsheet, applied auditing guidelines, and marked whether the items passed or failed.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
Another worry centers on the idea that AI offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic could cut into demand for traditional software packages like Microsoft 365, which houses Office and Excel.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026
It pitched agents as assistants that were really good at using Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft applications.
From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026
Enterprise AI systems are platforms that integrate directly into corporate workflows—think of Microsoft Copilot embedded in Word, Excel and Outlook, or Salesforce’s Einstein AI woven into customer-relationship management.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026
She looked up at her Excel sheet, her heart sinking.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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.
