outshine
Americanverb (used with object)
-
outshines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
outshone,
past participle, past
-
outshined,
past participle, past
-
outshining
present participle
-
to surpass in shining; shine more brightly than.
-
to surpass in splendor, ability, achievement, excellence, etc..
a product that outshone all competitors; to outshine one's classmates.
verb (used without object)
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outshines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
outshone,
past participle, past
-
outshined,
past participle, past
-
outshining
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to shine more brightly than
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(tr) to surpass in excellence, beauty, wit, etc
-
rare (intr) to emit light
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
outshinesimple
-
outshinessimple
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have outshinedperfect
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have outshoneperfect
-
has outshinedperfect
-
has outshoneperfect
-
am outshiningprogressive
-
are outshiningprogressive
-
is outshiningprogressive
-
have been outshiningperfect progressive
-
has been outshiningperfect progressive
Past
-
outshinedsimple
-
outshonesimple
-
had outshinedperfect
-
had outshoneperfect
-
was outshiningprogressive
-
were outshiningprogressive
-
had been outshiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of outshine
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:
If a wedding invitation omits the dress code, one golden rule remains: Don’t outshine the bride.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
"Don't outshine your master," Merezhko says, quoting from Robert Greene's 1998 self-help book, The 48 Laws of Power.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Mr. Page and Ms. Faridany outshine most of their younger peers onstage in their fluent and lucid treatment of Shakespeare’s verse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
This overwhelming brightness allows quasars to outshine their host galaxies and makes them visible to telescopes across vast cosmic distances.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 27, 2025
You’re a high achiever who fulfills my narcissistic need to outshine the other mothers on the block.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
The Paris he gives us might as well be cradled in a snow globe, it’s so schematically perfect; similarly, Ms. Kelly’s smile, which outshines the City of Light.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025
Kane outshines superstars Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and former Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski when it comes to goals scored at the start of a season.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2025
Unlike the Milky Way, J0107a is enormous, and actually outshines all other early-Universe monster galaxies: it produces stars at a rate 300 times that of our Milky Way!
From Space Scoop ● Jun. 5, 2025
“Cooper’s sophomore film far outshines the common run of contemporary biopics in its artful construction and attention to emotional nuance,” she writes of his efforts in Maestro, the story of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein.
From Slate ● Nov. 22, 2023
All the fairies gleamed brilliantly, outshining the flowers of the garden like the sun outshines the moon.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
Over the course of 2025, demand for second-home mortgages rose 4.1% from the previous year, a jump that outshined a 1% increase in primary-home mortgages.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Across the league, a new wave of quarterbacks outshined the old guard and wound up piloting the best teams in the sport.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
Silver’s surge has even outshined gold, which is also near record highs after rising 70% this year.
From Barron's ● Dec. 29, 2025
Caramelized sweet potatoes, which are both syrupy and nutty in flavor, are practically outshined by the artificial, sugary sweetness of marshmallows.
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2023
Perhaps he should do his best in their final trial, and if his best outshined Citra’s, he would accept the scythe ring.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Dell Technologies shares have outshone many of the artificial-intelligence buildout’s most talked-about stocks so far this year, and they are heading even higher on Thursday.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
The team whose home results outshone their away ones to the greatest extent was Fulham, and fair play to them, Craven Cottage is the most homely sounding ground in the country.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
But one skill of his outshone all the others: He could fire from anywhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
The eurozone's fourth-largest economy has outshone its peers since 2021, supported by low energy costs, domestic consumption and a tourism boom since the end of the Covid pandemic.
From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026
As I glance around, I notice a lot of the other tributes are shooting us dirty looks, which confirms what I've suspected, we've literally outshone them all.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
"But what is special about MoM-BH*-1 is, the black hole star is essentially completely outshining its surrounding host galaxy, such that we're seeing pure black hole star light."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
ARLINGTON, Texas — In a World Cup boasting a galaxy of stars, a lunch-bucket team of blue-collar everymen may wind up outshining them all.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
What may be a worry bigger than SpaceX is OpenAI and Anthropic outshining each other.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
Metals prices have come a long way over the past 12 months, with silver outshining gold by a wide margin.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 24, 2026
All the fairies gleamed brilliantly, outshining the flowers of the garden like the sun outshines the moon.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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.
