exalt

verb

ex·​alt ig-ˈzȯlt 

exalted; exalting; exalts

transitive verb

1

: to raise in rank, power, or character

2

: to elevate by praise or in estimation : glorify

3

obsolete : elate

4

: to raise high : elevate

5

: to enhance the activity of : intensify

rousing and exalting the imagination

—George Eliot

intransitive verb

: to induce exaltation

exalter noun

Synonyms

• aggrandize
• canonize
• deify
• dignify
• elevate
• ennoble
• enshrine
• ensky
• enthrone
• glorify
• magnify

Examples of exalt in a Sentence

His behavior has exalted the power and prestige of his office.

The essay exalts the simple beauty of the country.

We exalt thee, O Lord.

He shamelessly exalts his own role in the peace process.

Recent Examples on the Web

By the 1930s and throughout the 1940s, Benton became associated with Regionalism—among its devotees, Grant Wood—which rejected abstract expressionism and exalted realist representations of rural America. —Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 23 Dec. 2024

The story of Combs’s rise and fall exposes the many fractures in a legacy that pop culture was always eager to exalt. —Kyndall Cunningham, Vox, 31 Oct. 2024

Whatever happened to exalting the Thinker over the armored knight? —Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 3 Nov. 2024

Still, others found these movies critical of science while also exalting it. —Salama Udaipurwala, JSTOR Daily, 30 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin exaltare, from ex- + altus high — more at old

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

exalt

verb

ex·​alt ig-ˈzȯlt 

1

: to raise in rank, power, or character

2

: to praise highly : glorify

exalter noun

Medical Definition

exalt

transitive verb

ex·​alt ig-ˈzȯlt 

: to cause (virulence) to increase

virulence exalted by addition of mucin to a bacterial culture

also : to increase the virulence of

exalt a virus by repeated rapid passage through susceptible hosts