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
Trinity first established herself on the national stage as a contestant on Drag Race season 6 in 2014, ultimately placing seventh in the overall competition after excelling at the stand-up comedy challenge and cementing her legacy as one of the season's lip-sync assassins.
—
EW.com, 19 Dec. 2024
Why Amanda Bynes left acting behind While Bynes was excelling on-screen at Nickelodeon, horror stories of strange and inappropriate behavior from showrunner Dan Schneider have since surfaced.
—Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 14 Dec. 2024
Peete also had an impressive athletic background, excelling in football, basketball, and baseball during his high school years.
—Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 14 Dec. 2024
The Volunteers are excelling despite only returning one starter (point guard Zakai Zeigler) from last season’s team that finished 27-9, won the Southeastern Conference regular season title and lost to eventual national runner-up Purdue in the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight.
—Tim Casey, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
Autonomous vehicles provide a glimpse into the potential of embodied intelligence, excelling in a single task—driving—through precise spatial awareness.
—Gerui Wang, Forbes, 8 Dec. 2024
Over several seasons, Lazard became a key target in the Packers' offense, excelling in the red zone and contributing both as a receiver and blocker.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 7 Dec. 2024
The 2024 edition of the Fortune Best Cities in Europe for Business highlights the top 50 hubs excelling in key metrics, including quality of life, economic vitality, and attractiveness to business.
—Fortune Editors, Fortune Europe, 4 Dec. 2024
Whether an employee is excelling, falling behind, or simply wants to be acknowledged, empathetic honesty can fill those needs and, in the process, fill this gap.
—Eva Epker, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2024
EW.com, 19 Dec. 2024
Why Amanda Bynes left acting behind While Bynes was excelling on-screen at Nickelodeon, horror stories of strange and inappropriate behavior from showrunner Dan Schneider have since surfaced.
—Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 14 Dec. 2024
Peete also had an impressive athletic background, excelling in football, basketball, and baseball during his high school years.
—Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 14 Dec. 2024
The Volunteers are excelling despite only returning one starter (point guard Zakai Zeigler) from last season’s team that finished 27-9, won the Southeastern Conference regular season title and lost to eventual national runner-up Purdue in the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight.
—Tim Casey, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
Autonomous vehicles provide a glimpse into the potential of embodied intelligence, excelling in a single task—driving—through precise spatial awareness.
—Gerui Wang, Forbes, 8 Dec. 2024
Over several seasons, Lazard became a key target in the Packers' offense, excelling in the red zone and contributing both as a receiver and blocker.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 7 Dec. 2024
The 2024 edition of the Fortune Best Cities in Europe for Business highlights the top 50 hubs excelling in key metrics, including quality of life, economic vitality, and attractiveness to business.
—Fortune Editors, Fortune Europe, 4 Dec. 2024
Whether an employee is excelling, falling behind, or simply wants to be acknowledged, empathetic honesty can fill those needs and, in the process, fill this gap.
—Eva Epker, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excelling
Verb
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Enterprises in stages three and four, on the other hand, had financial performance well above industry average — exceeding 10 percentage points.—
Joe McKendrick,
Forbes,
24 Dec. 2024
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Crocs business continues to demonstrate strong overall performance, with a Q3 operating margin exceeding 25%, an impressive metric for a footwear company.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes,
24 Dec. 2024
Verb
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The movie Wicked has officially become the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in box office history, surpassing the movie musical Mamma Mia.—
George Monastiriakos,
Newsweek,
31 Dec. 2024
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The 2024 edition marks the highest tally of all time, greatly surpassing Barack Obama’s previous record of 95,894 pages.—
Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.,
Forbes,
31 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Penn State has been an elite run defense all season, with only three teams rushing for more yards against the Nittany Lions this season than Boise State did — USC, Ohio State, Oregon — and only one other individual running back eclipsing 100 yards.—
Justin Williams,
The Athletic,
3 Jan. 2025
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But now, with two games to play, the Philadelphia Eagles running back is 268 yards from eclipsing the mark of Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson, who set the league record of 2,105 with the Rams in 1984.—
Austin Knoblauch,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Excelling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excelling. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.
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