excellence
Americannoun
-
excellences
plural
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
KPJ’s third center of excellence launch should also support longer-term revenue growth, he adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
She received a scholarship of academic excellence to study Journalism and Corporate Communication at Blanquerna Ramon Llull University, where she received a master's degree in International Journalism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The Recording Academy said the new award aims to honour "artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets, including but not limited to K-pop, J-pop and C-pop".
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
“Together, Kimberly Hunt and Billy Ray Smith represent the very best of San Diego —individuals whose professional excellence is matched only by their kindness, humility, and dedication to improving the lives of others.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
It’s a prestigious school that prides itself on music excellence.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
It is a film of excellences, never more so than in the performances by Robert De Niro and a remarkable supporting cast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2023
The days after VE Day were perfect for a tragic English opera with an English setting, and its musical excellences were supplemented by a sense of its national significance.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 7, 2013
For all its excellences, it would have been a bigger book if Rabbit had been a bigger man.
From Time Magazine Archive
Confirmed admirers of French filmmaking will also find it sparkling with the usual Gallic excellences: subtle underplaying, sharp character drawing, loving attention to significant detail, a shrewd understanding of the overtones to complex human relationships.
From Time Magazine Archive
These words of the master, given with no attempt to reconcile their apparent inconsistencies, convey very fairly the substance of his teaching, including both its excellences and its deep defects.
From The Five Great Philosophies of Life by William De Witt Hyde
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.
