as in surpasses
to be greater, better, or stronger than
the special effects in this new sci-fi extravaganza excel any that we've seen previously
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of excels
Lawson, from the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park, boasts a better bat but Oklahoma native Nichols excels with the glove.
—
Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 6 Feb. 2026
Silicon excels at speed and precision, but struggles with energy efficiency and adaptive learning.
—Matthew S Williams, Interesting Engineering, 5 Feb. 2026
Sea Harbour excels at slightly elevated versions of the classics.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2026
The world’s best speedskater at the moment, Jordan Stolz, who excels at shorter distances, hasn’t taken advantage.
—Howard Fendrich, Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb. 2026
The Jazz also prefer to play a four-around-one style of offense under coach Will Hardy that plays right into Jackson’s skill set as a shooter who excels best at finishing plays when advantages are created for him.
—Sam Vecenie, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
The German is an excellent all-round forward who excels in bringing the best out of the teammates around him.
—Graham Ruthven, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
The company said the model excels at coding, operating computers and assisting with complex enterprise tasks, with ideal users including professional software developers and knowledge workers such as financial analysts, consultants and accountants.
—Yun Li, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
Affleck excels here in a tremendously off-putting role (seemingly the one he was born to play), but the film's most cogent, exciting moments come when Lonergan splits off to show us the town's bizarre side characters.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Jan. 2026
Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 6 Feb. 2026
Silicon excels at speed and precision, but struggles with energy efficiency and adaptive learning.
—Matthew S Williams, Interesting Engineering, 5 Feb. 2026
Sea Harbour excels at slightly elevated versions of the classics.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2026
The world’s best speedskater at the moment, Jordan Stolz, who excels at shorter distances, hasn’t taken advantage.
—Howard Fendrich, Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb. 2026
The Jazz also prefer to play a four-around-one style of offense under coach Will Hardy that plays right into Jackson’s skill set as a shooter who excels best at finishing plays when advantages are created for him.
—Sam Vecenie, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
The German is an excellent all-round forward who excels in bringing the best out of the teammates around him.
—Graham Ruthven, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
The company said the model excels at coding, operating computers and assisting with complex enterprise tasks, with ideal users including professional software developers and knowledge workers such as financial analysts, consultants and accountants.
—Yun Li, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
Affleck excels here in a tremendously off-putting role (seemingly the one he was born to play), but the film's most cogent, exciting moments come when Lonergan splits off to show us the town's bizarre side characters.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excels
Verb
-
That marks a record since the party's foundation in 1955 and surpasses the previous record of 300 seats won in 1986 by late Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.—
MARI YAMAGUCHI,
Arkansas Online,
9 Feb. 2026
-
That marks a record since the party’s foundation in 1955 and surpasses the previous record of 300 seats won in 1986 by the party under late Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.—
Mari Yamaguchi,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The company’s annual revenue now exceeds $35 million and has grown sevenfold in the past year, according to Proner.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
5 Feb. 2026
-
This far exceeds other similar devices.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Though the state’s population tops 4 million, Johor remains something of a satellite of Singapore; millions of Singaporeans visit every month for cheap eats and shopping sprees.—
Jeff Chu,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Feb. 2026
-
The number of daily flights around the world tops 100,000.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
What terrifies Iran’s theocrats the most, the fear that eclipses all their fears, is the ability of the people at large to clearly see the essential realities of the present regime.—
Azadeh Moaveni,
Time,
3 Feb. 2026
-
But the data only tells them the ‘what’ not the ‘why’ — which is where experience still eclipses the cold, hard numbers in the data.—
Andrew Rice,
New York Times,
15 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Excels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excels. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
