excel

B2 Topic:People & Society

US /ɪkˈsɛl/ See IPA manual

Freq #20121

Meanings

1

verb
To be very good at something; to do something extremely well.

We excelled in math because we practiced every day.
2

verb
To be better than other people or things.

Her exam results excelled those of everyone else in the class.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to be very good at... surpass

2 verb · to be better than other... outdo outperform outclass best better

More bang devour eat kick rock rule shine slap slay

Opposites

choke fail misperform stink suckunderachieveunderperform

Word family

Forms excelledexcellingexcels

Derived forms superexcelunexcelling

Related forms exceed excellence excellent

Etymology

From Middle English excellen, from Old French exceller, from Latin excellere, excelsum; ex (“out”) + *cellō, an unattested verb root found in culmen (“height, top”); Compare French exceller. See also culminate, column.

*kelH- Proto-Indo-European excellen Middle English exceller Old French excello Latin

View etymology graph ->

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# excel

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪkˈsɛl/
**Frequency rank:** 20121

## Meanings
1. To be very good at something; to do something extremely well.
2. To be better than other people or things.

## Examples
- We excelled in math because we practiced every day.
- Her exam results excelled those of everyone else in the class.

## Synonyms
- bang
- devour
- eat
- kick
- rock
- rule
- shine
- slap
- slay

## Antonyms
- choke
- fail
- misperform
- stink
- suck
- underachieve
- underperform

## Derived Forms
- superexcel
- unexcelling

## Related Forms
- exceed
- excellence
- excellent

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *kelH-
- Root: excellen
- Root: exceller
- Root: excello

## Etymology
From Middle English excellen, from Old French exceller, from Latin excellere, excelsum; ex (“out”) + *cellō, an unattested verb root found in culmen (“height, top”); Compare French exceller. See also culminate, column.

## AI Etymology
Excel comes from Middle English excellen, from Old French exceller, from Latin excellere, excelsum; ex (“out”) + *cellō, an unattested verb root found in culmen (“height, top”); Compare French exceller. See also culminate, column. In current use, the main senses are “To be very good at something; to do something extremely well” and “To be better than other people or things”.

## Topics
- People & Society

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excel

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