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:
The International Monetary Fund has a reputation for visual excellence, and the chart the global agency used to accompany its latest world economic outlook is quite striking.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
“Excellence in football and excellence in life is bred when men recognize their opportunities and then pursue them with a passion.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The chances flowed - one thunderbolt from the influential John McGinn, one near-miss from Bowie after excellence from Gannon-Doak, one off a post from McKenna.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
What could possibly be gained by shuttering a national citadel for creative excellence?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
The idea that excellence at performing a complex task requires a critical minimum level of practice surfaces again and again in studies of expertise.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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
That these excellences are unintentional in no way detracts from the power of Ten Nights in a Bar-Room.
From Time Magazine Archive
An occasional ear was strained to catch the excellences of an unexpected technique.
From Time Magazine Archive
Pardon me, for, in thinking of his visit and dwelling upon his excellences, I had like to have forgotten his agency.
From A History of Oregon, 1792-1849 Drawn From Personal Observation and Authentic Information by William Henry Gray
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
