excellence
Americannoun
-
the fact or state of excelling; superiority; eminence.
his excellence in mathematics.
- Synonyms:
- distinction, transcendence, preeminence
-
an excellent quality or feature.
Use of herbs is one of the excellences of French cuisine.
- Antonyms:
- inferiority
-
(usually initial capital letter) excellency.
noun
-
the state or quality of excelling or being exceptionally good; extreme merit; superiority
-
an action, characteristic, feature, etc, in which a person excels
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of excellence
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin excellentia; equivalent to excel + -ence
Explanation
Excellence means greatness — the very best. Achieving excellence is never easy to do. Excellence is a quality that people really appreciate, because it's so hard to find. Excellence is the quality of excelling, of being truly the best at something. Getting an A+ shows excellence. Michael Jordan's basketball career was filled with excellence. We love Picasso and Shakespeare for their excellence. When you see excellence, you should appreciate the work that went into it. So much in the world falls short of excellence.
Vocabulary lists containing excellence
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ance, -ence
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"CLEP Principles of Management," Vocabulary from Chapter 10
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"The MGMT Solution," Vocabulary from Chapter 16
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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.
She is a recipient of the SPJ Annual Excellence in Journalism Awards and a fellow with the Asian American Journalists Assn.
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026
His campaign-trail reporting won a Salute to Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Dr. Sundar Jagannath, network director for the Center of Excellence for Multiple Myeloma at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, meanwhile, supports the use of the term cure.
From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026
The agricultural economist is member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area "Sustainable Futures" at the University of Bonn and the Cluster of Excellence "PhenoRob -- Robotics and Phenotyping for Sustainable Crop Production."
From Science Daily • Mar. 15, 2026
“Go easy on that hand. We’re going to need you to win that New England championship, and the next two games. Excellence shuts everybody up real quick. I’ll see you out there.”
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
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.
