excelled

verb

past tense of excel
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 excelled Cothiere, a Haitian-American public school educator, excelled in precincts located in North Miami and North Miami Beach, where there are significant Haitian communities. — Austin Horn, Miami Herald, 19 Aug. 2026 Collectively, a chunk of players who excelled in June and early July are slumping in August. — Dan Hayes, New York Times, 13 Aug. 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 fragrance experts. — Kara Nesvig, Allure, 12 Aug. 2026 Red zone offense should be a strength Where the offense has excelled at most during camp is TCU starts drives near the red zone at the 25-yard line. — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Aug. 2026 Fejzo excelled academically, played the flute, and ran cross-country. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2026 Mike Caliendo Before focusing solely on football, Mike Caliendo excelled in another sport that required plenty of power. — Kansas City Star, 5 Aug. 2026 Last season, James excelled as the Lakers’ third option behind Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves as a screensetter, floor spacer and occasional facilitator. — Mark Medina, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026 That said, open-weight models—which China has excelled at developing—are free to download and use, creating pressure on closed-source models that force users to go through top AI providers such as OpenAI for access. — Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 25 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excelled
  1. surpassed
  2. exceeded
  3. eclipsed
  4. topped
Verb
  • The average two-bedroom rent in the city has now surpassed New York City, traditionally the nation’s most expensive city for rents.
    — Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
  • The government has spent nearly all of its full-year allocation for fuel subsidies already, after oil prices surpassed the $85 benchmark that the estimate was based on.
    — Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of surpassed
Verb
  • The city's spending on the two cases has therefore already exceeded the contract cap by $382,000.
    — Brian Maass, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026
  • An Allegheny River site southeast of Ohio exceeded that benchmark every time it was tested.
    — Gabby Sartori, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of exceeded
Verb
  • With a length of almost 1,100 feet and displacing more than 100,000 tons, Nimitz-class carriers are among the world’s largest warships, eclipsed only by the US Navy’s Ford-class carriers, of which only one is in service to date.
    — Mustafa Qadri, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
  • From the perspective of our health systems, this work is nice-to-have but eclipsed by the gritty realities of clinical care.
    — Kyle Vanelli, STAT, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of eclipsed
Verb
  • Only three topped 40 catches, and Jaden Greathouse and Beaux Collins required a 16-game season to get there two years ago.
    — Pete Sampson, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Digging for compliments Shares in mining giant BHP are trading higher in Australia, hitting a two-month high, after the company topped earnings expectations and unveiled plans to pay its highest dividend in four years.
    — Leonie Kidd, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of topped

Browse Nearby Words

excel
excelled
excellence
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Cite this Entry

“Excelled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excelled. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of excelled for Spanish Speakers

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