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
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
The Lakers had Jackson, the Dodgers have Roberts — championship players who’ve excelled as managers of men.
—Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2026
Student of the Week offers schools the chance to celebrate teens who have placed in an art, dance or music competition, excelled in a science fair, won an essay contest, received a scholarship, were recognized for their volunteer service or have shined in some other way.
—Erick Trevino, AZCentral.com, 23 Mar. 2026
Traditionally the Red Sox have excelled at developing position players, and over the years the club’s homegrown standouts have usually been hitters.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 21 Mar. 2026
Brents excelled as a spot starter briefly last season before suffering a foot injury that cut his season short.
—Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 20 Mar. 2026
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
The Lakers had Jackson, the Dodgers have Roberts — championship players who’ve excelled as managers of men.
—Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2026
Student of the Week offers schools the chance to celebrate teens who have placed in an art, dance or music competition, excelled in a science fair, won an essay contest, received a scholarship, were recognized for their volunteer service or have shined in some other way.
—Erick Trevino, AZCentral.com, 23 Mar. 2026
Traditionally the Red Sox have excelled at developing position players, and over the years the club’s homegrown standouts have usually been hitters.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 21 Mar. 2026
Brents excelled as a spot starter briefly last season before suffering a foot injury that cut his season short.
—Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 20 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excelled
Verb
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Lowes Foods with four stores surpassed both specialty grocers Fresh Market, with five stores, and Earth Fare, which closed one store and has two left in the region.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
2 Apr. 2026
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The season finale audience was up 30% from the previous week and surpassed the Season 1 finale in 2019, which earned 530,000 viewers.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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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
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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
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From the viewpoint of Integrity, the Moon eclipsed the Sun for nearly an hour.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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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 10 Apr. 2026.
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