surpass
Americanverb (used with object)
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surpasses,
present (3rd person singular)
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surpassed,
past participle, past
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surpassing
present participle
verb
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to be greater than in degree, extent, etc
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to be superior to in achievement or excellence
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to overstep the limit or range of
the theory surpasses my comprehension
Synonym Usage
See excel.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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surpasssimple
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surpassessimple
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have surpassedperfect
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has surpassedperfect
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am surpassingprogressive
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are surpassingprogressive
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is surpassingprogressive
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have been surpassingperfect progressive
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has been surpassingperfect progressive
Past
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surpassedsimple
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had surpassedperfect
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was surpassingprogressive
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were surpassingprogressive
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had been surpassingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of surpass
First recorded in 1545–55; from Middle French surpasser; equivalent to sur- 1 + pass
Explanation
To surpass means to outdo someone or something, to go beyond what was expected. If you do better than you think you will, you will surpass your own expectations. Some words seem to exist just to give an extra oomph to your speech, and surpass is one of these. While you could just say passed or even outdid" saying surpass seems to indicate that a person (or some other thing that performs, like a company) has really gone beyond anything you anticipated. People tend to use this word a lot before the words expectations and predictions among others, because of course surpassing is all about "surpassing something."
Vocabulary lists containing surpass
Grade 9, List 2
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Trumps
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This Week In Words: March 29–April 4, 2020
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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:
Despite starting earlier than previous Games, LA28 said it is already on pace to surpass Paris’ sales record after the 2024 Games sold 5.39 million tickets through their second drop in May 2023.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
“If they are able to surpass, for example, Algebra 1 or wherever they are, we are able to supplement the curriculum, challenging them constantly.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The company is on track to surpass $1 billion in revenue this year and estimates it holds nearly 60% of the live commerce market in North America and Europe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Whatnot said it added 20 million new accounts in 2025, and the company is on track to surpass $1 billion in revenue this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
I was the best student in my class, but soon Hafsa, and even Seema, would surpass me.
From "Amal Unbound" by Aisha Saeed
And as it bookends a summer led by “Obsession” and “Backrooms” fervor, with studios clamoring to find the next Gen Z wunderkind, Ullom quietly but consistently surpasses his peers at every winding turn.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
The new germano-silicate platform substantially surpasses silicon nitride in this part of the spectrum.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
Then-CEO Hassabis founded the company in 2010 with the goal of achieving artificial general intelligence, or AGI — an AI system that matches or surpasses human capabilities.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
This would apply to Spa, which has a history and circuit layout that surpasses the vast majority of the rest of the calendar.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
For most of us it is a world that surpasses understanding.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
It recently surpassed KFC to become America’s third-biggest chicken chain, and it’s hot on the heels of Popeyes too.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Only a handful of companies including Apple, Microsoft and chip maker Nvidia have surpassed the $2 trillion mark.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
This outbreak is now the deadliest in DR Congo's history and the second-worst ever - only surpassed by the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak when more than 11,000 people died.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Gross U.S. debt has surpassed $40 trillion, marking a new milestone in the country’s struggle to control its finances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The Nexus-6 android types, Rick reflected, surpassed several classes of human specials in terms of intelligence.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
“The duration an individual, whether male or female, can maintain balance on one leg,” it concluded, “emerges as the most reliable determinant of aging, surpassing strength, gait, and other balance parameters.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
A total of 2,325 people have been killed by the virus since it was declared on 15 May, surpassing the death toll of the country's 2018-2020 outbreak.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Its order book is filled through 2030, with contracts surpassing $25 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
For a brief period, the energy being released reached roughly 400 billion times the output of Earth's Sun, surpassing even the most powerful supernovae known to astronomers.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
It was rumored, however, that Bellerophon had a mightier father, Poseidon himself, the Ruler of the Sea, and the youth’s surpassing gifts of spirit and body made this account of his birth seem likely.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
