as in surpassed
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 excelled
Sheehan excelled against almost every Texas hitter except Nimmo, who hammered his second pitch 405 feet to dead center for the 15th leadoff homer of the longtime Mets slugger's career.
—
ABC News, 11 Apr. 2026
The second section deals with the military and civil servants and the courtiers who excelled by dint of their literary skills or musical genius.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Apr. 2026
The Raptors, Barnes especially, have excelled on these types of switches all year.
—Fred Katz, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
Too often last year, several Jets players missed tackles in the open field, an area in which Styles excelled at with the Buckeyes.
—Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 7 Apr. 2026
Every product was determined to have excelled in each category by our editorial team, which is composed of in-house writers and editors as well as contributors—along with special consideration from dermatologists.
—Sarah Felbin, Allure, 30 Mar. 2026
Inside that costume was Piper Randolph, a first-team All-American junior fencer who excelled in the Pan-American Cadet Championships.
—Glae Thien, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Mar. 2026
Johnson has excelled for her hometown program scoring 28 points in back-to-back wins over Georgia and Iowa.
—Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Mar. 2026
Eventually, we were brought into the soundstage where a hype man impressively excelled in the thankless task of keeping the energy high.
—Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
ABC News, 11 Apr. 2026
The second section deals with the military and civil servants and the courtiers who excelled by dint of their literary skills or musical genius.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Apr. 2026
The Raptors, Barnes especially, have excelled on these types of switches all year.
—Fred Katz, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
Too often last year, several Jets players missed tackles in the open field, an area in which Styles excelled at with the Buckeyes.
—Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 7 Apr. 2026
Every product was determined to have excelled in each category by our editorial team, which is composed of in-house writers and editors as well as contributors—along with special consideration from dermatologists.
—Sarah Felbin, Allure, 30 Mar. 2026
Inside that costume was Piper Randolph, a first-team All-American junior fencer who excelled in the Pan-American Cadet Championships.
—Glae Thien, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Mar. 2026
Johnson has excelled for her hometown program scoring 28 points in back-to-back wins over Georgia and Iowa.
—Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Mar. 2026
Eventually, we were brought into the soundstage where a hype man impressively excelled in the thankless task of keeping the energy high.
—Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excelled
Verb
-
The unemployment rate of recent college graduates has surpassed that of all workers, according to New York Federal Reserve Bank data.—
Jake Angelo,
Fortune,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The project was such a big hit that the Russos and Hargrave had to bring its main character back from the dead (Hemsworth’s Rake seemed to have died at the end of the first film) for the second installment, which surpassed the streaming numbers of the first pic.—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Released in July 2001, Legally Blonde quickly exceeded expectations, becoming both a box office hit and a cultural touchstone.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
11 Apr. 2026
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Their share of total cathode output consistently exceeded 70% through late 2025 and into the new year, marking a structural shift in manufacturing priorities.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Away from the Atlantic seaboard, Cincinnati was only eclipsed by New Orleans, another busy trading hub connected by the nation’s riverboats.—
Alexander Coolidge,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
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In the two years since, Tisza has completely eclipsed Hungary’s old institutional opposition—a fractured gamut ranging from the far right to the left.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The 76ers won the season-opener by one point, then topped Boston in November by two points.—
Matt Schooley,
CBS News,
15 Apr. 2026
-
For more than a decade, Singapore has topped The Economist’s own cost-of-living index (sometimes alone and other times sharing the distinction).—
Amelia Mularz,
Architectural Digest,
14 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Excelled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excelled. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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