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:
This will surpass the previous record of three days, which is currently shared by 1990, 2003, 2020 and 2026.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 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 coverage experienced from the island on Wednesday is the most significant since the total solar eclipse in 1999, without another to match or surpass it until 2151.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Maybe AI will surpass all of them combined, but we don’t know that.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Each new auction seemed to surpass the previous one for the record of the highest single bid and the total of millions collected.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
The new germano-silicate platform substantially surpasses silicon nitride in this part of the spectrum.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
That surpasses the total for 2025, a year that had already shattered records, with 2,289 cases and three deaths including two young children.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Research has suggested that a smaller model rarely surpasses the bigger model it distills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
His record surpasses Coldplay's 10-night run last summer, as well as Swift's eight nights at the stadium in 2024.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Should you spy a carriage that surpasses all others, peer inside.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
They’ve surpassed $2 billion in sales for Starbucks, as they’ve launched an ever-sprawling genre of refresher varieties: water-based, lemonade-based, coconut milk–based, chili-dusted, frozen and blended.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
John surpassed his goal to raise £5,000 each for Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, St David's Hospice Care in Newport and Farleigh Hospice in Essex, within days of beginning his walk.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The company said it recently surpassed 20 million users, and is also targeting a U.K. banking license.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
That large infusion, along with thousands of smaller donations, surpassed the fundraising goal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Arranged by the mayor of Maplewood, the parade and subsequent activities far surpassed anything I had imagined.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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
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
Revenue grew 18% from a year before to reach $17.3 billion in the fourth quarter, surpassing the $16.8 billion anticipated by Wall Street analysts.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
It levies harsh penalties for surpassing certain player salary thresholds, adding extensive roster-building restrictions to straightforward fines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
“Burnham had believed that he might best serve his country by placing all of the work exclusively with Eastern architects,” Sullivan wrote; “solely, he averred, on account of their surpassing culture.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
