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
Malinin already excelled in his debut Olympics—winning gold in the team event.
—
Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 13 Feb. 2026
Chinese companies have excelled at rapid deployment in consumer-facing applications and integrating AI into industrial use, said Deepika Giri, head of AI research at market research firm IDC.
—John Liu, CNN Money, 11 Feb. 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 were a star in some other way.
—Erick Trevino, AZCentral.com, 10 Feb. 2026
Miami has a deep lineup, led by Cuvet, an All-American third baseman, and Hurricanes coach JD Arteaga said Ciscar excelled against it during the preseason.
—Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 10 Feb. 2026
Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who excelled on the 2021-23 Rams, knows what awaits in next season’s divisional matchup.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 8 Feb. 2026
New England's defense has excelled in the lead-up to the Super Bowl, allowing 26 points across three games.
—Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 6 Feb. 2026
The uplift was driven by strong growth at Coach, which has excelled in recent quarters.
—Maliha Shoaib, Vogue, 5 Feb. 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.
—Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 5 Feb. 2026
Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 13 Feb. 2026
Chinese companies have excelled at rapid deployment in consumer-facing applications and integrating AI into industrial use, said Deepika Giri, head of AI research at market research firm IDC.
—John Liu, CNN Money, 11 Feb. 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 were a star in some other way.
—Erick Trevino, AZCentral.com, 10 Feb. 2026
Miami has a deep lineup, led by Cuvet, an All-American third baseman, and Hurricanes coach JD Arteaga said Ciscar excelled against it during the preseason.
—Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 10 Feb. 2026
Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who excelled on the 2021-23 Rams, knows what awaits in next season’s divisional matchup.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 8 Feb. 2026
New England's defense has excelled in the lead-up to the Super Bowl, allowing 26 points across three games.
—Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 6 Feb. 2026
The uplift was driven by strong growth at Coach, which has excelled in recent quarters.
—Maliha Shoaib, Vogue, 5 Feb. 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.
—Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 5 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excelled
Verb
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The initial target of $50,000 has long been surpassed, with the total now sitting at $60,000.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
-
However, Qualcomm surpassed earnings and revenue expectations for the fiscal first quarter.—
Jason Gewirtz,
CNBC,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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While the scale of violence exceeded expectations, the belief that international support was imminent undeniably emboldened many protesters.—
Pegah Banihashemi,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Feb. 2026
-
For the first time, in 2025, the demand for non-American, non-Western, non-English-language content exceeded 50 percent of the global revenue pie.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In an instant, our shaky courtroom sketch of Pearl the flighty young mother, Pearl the drunk, gets burned up and eclipsed by Pearl the mystic.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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That dramatic view will only be visible from a remote part of Antarctica, where up to 96% of the sun will be eclipsed for a little over 2 minutes — meaning very few people on Earth will witness annularity in person.—
Daisy Dobrijevic,
Space.com,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The Midas Project also claims that OpenAI cannot definitively prove the model lacks the autonomy required for the extra measures, as the company’s previous, less advanced model already topped global benchmarks for autonomous task completion.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
10 Feb. 2026
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The designer introduced Daisy fragrance in 2007, packaging the scent in bottles topped with oversized white flowers that have since spawned a long-running series of flankers and remain a core pillar of the brand’s beauty business.—
Maggie Clancy,
Footwear News,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Excelled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excelled. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
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