excel

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

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.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with excel

excel at Prepositional verb B2

to perform particularly well in an activity

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

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

excel at
to perform particularly well in an activity

Verb + preposition/particle

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 ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# 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
- Actions & Processes

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