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:
Another signed by Newsom earlier this year allows Los Angeles and Contra Costa counties to surpass a 2% limit on local sales taxes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
It recently passed $40 trillion and is on pace to surpass $100 trillion by the time my 5-year-old daughter is in her mid-20s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
That put the category on track to surpass the annual record of $448 billion seen in 2025, according to a note from Matthew Bartolini, global head of research strategists at State Street Investment Management.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
Boxing legend Prince Naseem Hamed has described Moses Itauma as "a million times better" than Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury and expects the young British heavyweight to surpass both former world champions.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
When they weren’t busy ignoring me at practice, they put a lot of effort into scouting for other talented fencers with the hope that they would surpass me in the rankings.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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
In an “extreme” scenario, AI surpasses human productivity across most knowledge-work tasks, performing nearly all of them autonomously.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
According to data from Apartments.com, the average rent price in New York City is $4,197, and Williamsburg even surpasses that—the median rent price is $5,100, according to competitor platform StreetEasy.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
The vitality which the snail’s eggs possess surpasses belief.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
The current outbreak, however, has already surpassed those earlier events in both its trajectory and scale.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Superintelligence is the point at which AI will have surpassed even the smartest humans across several domains.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
Copernicus also said that August "marked the end of western Europe's warmest summer" that surpassed the long-standing record set in 2003.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
Hunt's performance surpassed American Olympic silver medallist Sha'Carri Richardson, who came third in 11.07.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
The Tudor period witnessed a boom in food/drink/Baby Jesus-related carols, surpassed in enthusiasm only by the Victorian era.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
This set of products includes chips and servers and has quickly become Mexico’s top export to the U.S., surpassing autos this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
It is predicted to bring record heat to 2027, but could also help make 2026 the hottest year on record, surpassing 2024.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
She absorbed the bulk of pressure, provided the model and set the standard her younger sister spent a lifetime chasing, and eventually surpassing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
It amounts to quite the rebuild, with the Fernandez deal taking City's spending to a Premier League record £458m for a single transfer window, surpassing Liverpool's £415m from last summer.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
“I am pleased to say that they are surpassing all expectations. Three more studious and dedicated pupils would be difficult to imagine.”
From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood
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.
