as in exceeding
to be greater, better, or stronger than
the special effects in this new sci-fi extravaganza excel any that we've seen previously
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Recent Examples of excelling
After excelling with point-guard skills in a center’s body, Wembanyama’s range suddenly disappeared.
—
Mark Medina, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026
Anthropic initially rolled out Mythos to a limited number of companies in April as part of Anthropic’s cybersecurity venture Project Glasswing, with the model excelling at identifying security flaws and weaknesses in software.
—Sawdah Bhaimiya, CNBC, 1 June 2026
After excelling in pony eventing as a teenager, Ingham was looking for the next step up but didn’t have the resources required.
—Danielle Rossingh, New York Times, 26 May 2026
Only 15 games into his season due to a hamstring injury that bumped back his debut, Stowers provides adequate defense while excelling as a hitter.
—Miami Herald, 8 May 2026
Throughout the school year, CBS Colorado honors high school students who are excelling the science, technology, engineering and math, STEM.
—Libby Smith, CBS News, 1 May 2026
Still, Coe was excelling as a songwriter.
—Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
With Coker excelling in the slot and McMillan handling the X position, Legette and Brazzell could find themselves in a pretty notable camp competition, along with Metchie, Horn and Brycen Tremayne.
—Charlotte Observer, 25 Apr. 2026
His kids started in the Mansfield school district and are excelling in the classroom.
—Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Apr. 2026
Mark Medina, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026
Anthropic initially rolled out Mythos to a limited number of companies in April as part of Anthropic’s cybersecurity venture Project Glasswing, with the model excelling at identifying security flaws and weaknesses in software.
—Sawdah Bhaimiya, CNBC, 1 June 2026
After excelling in pony eventing as a teenager, Ingham was looking for the next step up but didn’t have the resources required.
—Danielle Rossingh, New York Times, 26 May 2026
Only 15 games into his season due to a hamstring injury that bumped back his debut, Stowers provides adequate defense while excelling as a hitter.
—Miami Herald, 8 May 2026
Throughout the school year, CBS Colorado honors high school students who are excelling the science, technology, engineering and math, STEM.
—Libby Smith, CBS News, 1 May 2026
Still, Coe was excelling as a songwriter.
—Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
With Coker excelling in the slot and McMillan handling the X position, Legette and Brazzell could find themselves in a pretty notable camp competition, along with Metchie, Horn and Brycen Tremayne.
—Charlotte Observer, 25 Apr. 2026
His kids started in the Mansfield school district and are excelling in the classroom.
—Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excelling
Verb
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In recent weeks, the race for Los Angeles mayor has been dominated by reality star Spencer Pratt, who, following an expectation-exceeding debate performance, has risen in the polls with an insurgent campaign specializing in producing or promoting brash and direct online videos.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
2 June 2026
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The team collected data on speeds of drivers for one week in September 2021 and found 44% of the more than 100,000 vehicles that drove the corridor in the week were exceeding the 30 mph posted speed limit.—
Angie DiMichele,
Sun Sentinel,
2 June 2026
Verb
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Freeland, 33, had just pitched 1,313 1/3 major league innings, all in a Rockies uniform, surpassing Aaron Cook (1,312 1/3) for the franchise record.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
8 June 2026
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Since then, the number of visitors to Huangshan — known as the most marvelous mountain in China — has only grown, surpassing 5 million for the first time last year.—
Jennifer Jett,
NBC news,
7 June 2026
Verb
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Key Facts The move arrives just days after the company closed a $65 billion round that valued it at $965 billion—eclipsing rival OpenAI and cementing its status as the most valuable startup in artificial intelligence.—
Alicia Park,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
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The Claude developer recently raised $65 billion in a funding round at a $965 billion valuation, including the investment, eclipsing OpenAI’s value for the first time.—
Bloomberg,
Fortune,
1 June 2026
Verb
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Current Paramount Global Marketing and Distribution Czar Josh Goldstine gets applause for a brilliant, viral campaign with social content topping 1 billion views.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
7 June 2026
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This includes odors in the fridge that might otherwise seep into your leftovers, as well as direct heat that could over-brown a crumb topping or pie crust in the oven.—
Darcy Lenz,
Southern Living,
6 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Excelling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excelling. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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