excellent
adjectiveadverbcommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈɛk.sə.lənt//
- United Kingdom//ˈɛk.sɪ.lənt//
- United Kingdom//ˈɛks.lənt//
- Canada//ˈɛk.sə.lənt//
- Canada//ˈɛks.lənt//
Having excelled, having surpassed.
adjective
- 1
Having excelled, having surpassed.
- 2
Of higher or the highest quality; splendid.
A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire.
- 3
Exceptionally good of its kind.
Bill and Ted had an excellent adventure last week in preparation for their history exam.
Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.
- 4
Superior in kind or degree, irrespective of moral quality.
Elizabeth, therefore, who was an excellent hypocrite
Their sorrows are most excellent.
Etymology
From Middle English excellent, from Old French excellent, from Latin excellēns (“elevated, exalted”), present participle of excellō (“elevate, exult”), equivalent to excel + -ent.
adverb
- 1
obsoleteExcellently.
Lucian, in his tract de Mercede conductis, hath excellent well deciphered such men's proceedings in his picture of Opulentia […].
Forms
- comparative
- more excellent
- superlative
- most excellent