excelsior
1 Americannoun
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fine wood shavings, used for stuffing, packing, etc.
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Printing. a 3-point type: a size smaller than brilliant.
adjective
interjection
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excellent: used as a motto and as a trademark for various products, esp in the US for fine wood shavings used for packing breakable objects
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upwards
Usage
What else does excelsior mean? Excelsior is a Latin word translated into English as a motto meaning "Ever upward!"Marvel comics legend Stan Lee, who helped create such iconic characters as Spider-Man and the Hulk, famously used Excelsior! as his catchphrase.
Etymology
Origin of excelsior
An Americanism dating back to 1770–80; formerly a trademark
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.
They have purple eyes, they hate children and they roam around Hotel Excelsior.
From BBC • Oct. 30, 2025
A spokesperson for Excelsior Charter Schools could not be reached for comment.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2024
On the banks of Lake Minnewashta in Excelsior, just outside Minneapolis, the answer lies in a dimly lit, wood-burning barrel-shaped sauna a few feet away.
From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2024
The World Cup winner has bought Royal Excelsior Virton, a third-division team in Belgium.
From Washington Times • Jun. 29, 2023
The Paris newspaper Excelsior even ran a comic-strip-like depiction of Perugia’s account—a how-he-did-it illustration of the theft.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
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.
