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
Ajok’s story is similar to that of Kenyan sprinter Maximila Imali, who showed great promise in track and field and qualified for the 800 meters at the world junior athletics championships, excelling in her heats but falling in the finals.
—
Amy Woodyatt, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2025
The annual award is the state’s top honor for teachers and aims to recognize current educators who are excelling in their field while encouraging others to join the profession.
—Caroline Beck, IndyStar, 18 Sep. 2025
From their passion and spirit to excelling in the Teaching as a Profession pathway, these students demonstrate excellence in and out of the classroom and stand out amongst their peers.
—Katie Nixon, Nashville Tennessean, 15 Sep. 2025
From a young age, Emeka showed exceptional talent in sports, excelling in both baseball and football.
—Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
Every improvement has ripple effects, and the challenge lies in finding a solution that works across the board rather than excelling in one area and failing in another.
—Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025
There is also no real hurry since Gavin Sheets is excelling while filling in for him, playing left field as Ramón Laureano mans center.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025
Schoolhouse The day his essay was published, a college admissions influencer with over 700,000 Instagram followers posted a guide on excelling at Dialogues to help kids get into their dream schools, and over 1,900 users asked in the comments for more details.
—Tyler Kingkade, NBC news, 28 Aug. 2025
And the other two, righties Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat, are now excelling at Triple-A just as the roster is about to expand.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Aug. 2025
Amy Woodyatt, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2025
The annual award is the state’s top honor for teachers and aims to recognize current educators who are excelling in their field while encouraging others to join the profession.
—Caroline Beck, IndyStar, 18 Sep. 2025
From their passion and spirit to excelling in the Teaching as a Profession pathway, these students demonstrate excellence in and out of the classroom and stand out amongst their peers.
—Katie Nixon, Nashville Tennessean, 15 Sep. 2025
From a young age, Emeka showed exceptional talent in sports, excelling in both baseball and football.
—Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
Every improvement has ripple effects, and the challenge lies in finding a solution that works across the board rather than excelling in one area and failing in another.
—Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025
There is also no real hurry since Gavin Sheets is excelling while filling in for him, playing left field as Ramón Laureano mans center.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025
Schoolhouse The day his essay was published, a college admissions influencer with over 700,000 Instagram followers posted a guide on excelling at Dialogues to help kids get into their dream schools, and over 1,900 users asked in the comments for more details.
—Tyler Kingkade, NBC news, 28 Aug. 2025
And the other two, righties Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat, are now excelling at Triple-A just as the roster is about to expand.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excelling
Verb
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University of Arkansas-North Arkansas College employees will benefit from becoming part of a larger network of 28,000 employees within the UA System, which operates with a total budget exceeding $4 billion, according to Micki Somers, the college's director of public relations.—
Ryan Anderson,
Arkansas Online,
26 Sep. 2025
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In November 2021, the SOL cryptocurrency surged dramatically (growing 11,000 percent) with a market capitalization exceeding $75 billion, the World Economic Forum reported at the time.—
Alexandra Harrell,
Sourcing Journal,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In a rare turn for Chinese tech, Alibaba is leaning heavily into superintelligence — a hypothetical AI system surpassing human intellect — mirroring efforts by US firms like OpenAI and Meta.—
J.D. Capelouto,
semafor.com,
24 Sep. 2025
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Over the last five years, more than 500,000 clean energy jobs have been added, far surpassing the growth in the fossil fuel, gas and diesel motor vehicle sectors.—
Daniel Manzo,
ABC News,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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And earlier this month, Ellison briefly became the richest person in the world, eclipsing Elon Musk, as Oracle’s stock exploded on its prognostications for its booming AI business.—
Hadas Gold,
CNN Money,
26 Sep. 2025
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The righty slugger is an RBI machine, eclipsing 100 RBI in a season four times in his career.—
Hunter Mulholland,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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With a double elimination looming, each couple will perform to a chart-topping single from years past, spanning styles from Cha Cha to Jive to Tango.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Sep. 2025
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The total number of H-1B approvals peaked in 2022, topping 440,000.—
Dian Zhang,
USA Today,
24 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Excelling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excelling. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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