outshine

verb

out·​shine ˌau̇t-ˈshīn 

outshone ˌau̇t-ˈshōn 

especially British -ˈshän

or outshined; outshining

transitive verb

1

a

: to shine brighter than

b

: to excel in splendor or showiness

But among foliage tourists, peak means one day that will outshine all others.

—Madeline Drexler

2

: outdo, surpass

… a self-made man with an ego that outshone his rhinestone-bedazzled … suits.

—Sarah Smarsh

intransitive verb

: to shine out

Synonyms of outshine

• surpass
• exceed
• eclipse
• better
• top

Examples of outshine in a Sentence

She outshines all the other actors in the film.

the trumpeter outshines all of his fellow band members

Recent Examples on the Web

But doubt crept into the stands as the game wore on, the mounting tension at times outshining the spiritwear. — Lila Hempel-Edgers, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026

McNeely’s portrait of a laboring mother, swathed in glowing fields of chartreuse, outshines (again, literally) art history’s greats. — Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 18 Sep. 2026

These monstrous masses are themselves dark, but their formidable gravity violently vacuums up gas and other nearby matter, generating rings of hot, swirling detritus that completely outshine the stars around them. — Quanta Magazine, 14 Sep. 2026

Florida spends $14,000 per student, less than half of New York’s level, yet outshines New York in fourth-grade mathematics and reading. — Zilvinas "z" Silenas, New York Daily News, 14 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1585, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Rhymes for outshine

• affine
• airline
• align
• aline
• assign
• baseline
• beamline
• benign
• bloodline
• bovine
• brucine
• byline

Kids Definition

outshine

verb

out·​shine (ˈ)au̇t-ˈshīn 

outshone -ˈshōn  ; outshining

1

: to shine brighter than

2

: excel, surpass