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
-
The Hornets have experienced 23 sellouts this season, establishing a new mark in the uptown arena, and exceeded an average of 18,000 fans per game.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
6 Apr. 2026
-
On a night where Clay Holmes was dominant, tossing seven scoreless innings with four strikeouts, Roupp exceeded his minuscule margin of error.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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They were eclipsed by Republicans Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, both of whom polled at 14%.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
8 Apr. 2026
-
From the viewpoint of Integrity, the Moon eclipsed the Sun for nearly an hour.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Henderson made the right decision in the eighth inning, hitting a tie-breaking, two-run home run against reliever Chris Murphy as the Orioles topped the Sox 4-2 in front of 10,750 at Rate Field.—
LaMond Pope,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
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This stick-to-your-ribs recipe is like ground beef-and-bean chili topped with a layer of gooey cheese and a layer of golden cornbread.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
7 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Excelled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excelled. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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