surpass
Americanverb (used with object)
-
surpasses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
surpassed,
past participle, past
-
surpassing
present participle
verb
-
to be greater than in degree, extent, etc
-
to be superior to in achievement or excellence
-
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
-
surpasssimple
-
surpassessimple
-
have surpassedperfect
-
has surpassedperfect
-
am surpassingprogressive
-
are surpassingprogressive
-
is surpassingprogressive
-
have been surpassingperfect progressive
-
has been surpassingperfect progressive
Past
-
surpassedsimple
-
had surpassedperfect
-
was surpassingprogressive
-
were surpassingprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Trumps
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
This Week In Words: March 29–April 4, 2020
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
While acknowledging the medical-device unit needed work, the company said it was on track to surpass $100 billion in yearly sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
AGI matches or exceeds human abilities across a specific cognitive task, according to the bank, whereas superintelligence would surpass human performance across every intellectual domain.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Yet Ditka somehow managed to surpass all of that once he hung up his helmet and started roaming the sidelines in aviator sunglasses and a sweater-vest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Downtown currently is tied for the most 100-degree-plus days in October with those in 1958 and 1971, but could surpass those years if the mercury hits 100 degrees Tuesday, according to Schoenfeld.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
He soon realized that his fellow students had received better preparation for college, though he was determined to surpass them.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Companies raised $1.08 trillion across 5,566 deals over the first nine months of the year, a figure that surpasses the full-year totals reached in the past four years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
All of this rests on assumptions that the current technology, built on so-called large-language models, will develop into artificial general intelligence, a hypothetical computer system that surpasses human intelligence in all domains.
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026
Savannah Guthrie continued her calls for kidnappers to return her mother Nancy Guthrie, as the investigation into the elder Guthrie’s disappearance surpasses its six-month mark.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
Hubinger said Anthropic is "trying its best", but does not yet have a plan to ensure an AI system that surpasses human capabilities would obey its creators.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
The vitality which the snail’s eggs possess surpasses belief.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Its value has surpassed $5 trillion six times previously during intraday trading, but it had never closed above that level.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Founder Doug Douglas said: "Halloween is really important for us, it has surpassed Christmas."
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
While the economic impact of AI has yet to fully emerge, Musk has already surpassed the richest Americans in history in terms of his relative share of gross domestic output.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
It was an indication of the warm and tender feelings viewers still had for Helga and “Hey Arnold!” that Smith’s funding goal was surpassed in a matter of days.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
He’d surpassed his great achievement at Bled in 1961 with an even more dazzling triumph at Stockholm.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Indeed, bot traffic makes up an increasingly large share of the internet, surpassing human traffic for the first time in history over the summer, according to a June Cloudflare report.
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2026
It said the total planted between 2021 and 2026 was around 885,000, surpassing its initial target of 600,000.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Some 189 have died so far this year, surpassing the toll for all of 2025.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Taylor Swift had a historic night Sunday during the MTV Video Music Awards, surpassing Beyoncé as the most decorated solo artist in VMAs history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
This has been the pattern of his life: ludicrous dreams followed by hours and days and years of work and then a reality surpassing his wildest hopes and expectations.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
