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Webster 1913 Edition


Excellent

Ex′cel-lent

,
Adj.
[F.
excellent
, L.
excellens
,
-entis
, p. pr. of
excellere
. See
Excel
.]
1.
Excelling; surpassing others in some good quality or the sum of qualities; of great worth; eminent, in a good sense; superior;
as, an
excellent
man, artist, citizen, husband, discourse, book, song, etc.;
excellent
breeding, principles, aims, action.
To love . . .
What I see
excellent
in good or fair.
Milton.
2.
Superior in kind or degree, irrespective of moral quality; – used with words of a bad significance.
[Obs. or Ironical]
“An excellent hypocrite.”
Hume.
Syn. – Worthy; choice; prime; valuable; select; exquisite; transcendent; admirable; worthy.

Ex′cel-lent

,
adv.
Excellently; eminently; exceedingly.
[Obs.]
“This comes off well and excellent.”
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Excellent

EX'CELLENT

,
Adj.
Being of great virtue or worth; eminent or distinguished for what is amiable, valuable or laudable; as an excellent man or citizen; an excellent judge or magistrate.
1.
Being of great value or use, applied to things; remarkable for good properties; as excellent timber; an excellent farm; an excellent horse; excellent fruit.
2.
Distinguished for superior attainments; as an excellent artist.
3.
Consummate; complete; in an ill sense.
Elizabeth was an excellent hypocrite.

Definition 2024


excellent

excellent

See also: excel·lent

English

Adjective

excellent (comparative excellenter or more excellent, superlative excellentest or most excellent)

  1. Of the highest quality; splendid.
    • 1915, Mrs. Belloc Lowndes, The Lodger, chapter I:
      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.
  2. Exceptionally good of its kind.
    • 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist:
      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.
  3. Superior in kind or degree, irrespective of moral quality.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:excellent

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

excellent (comparative more excellent, superlative most excellent)

  1. (obsolete) Excellently.
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York Review Books 2001, p.287:
      Lucian, in his tract de Mercede conductis, hath excellent well deciphered such men's proceedings in his picture of Opulentia […].

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: doctor · Michael · fee · #997: excellent · Peter · instant · promised

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɛnt

Adjective

excellent (comparative excellenter, superlative excellentst)

  1. excellent, splendid

Inflection

Inflection of excellent
uninflected excellent
inflected excellente
comparative excellenter
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial excellent excellenter het excellentst
het excellentste
indefinite m./f. sing. excellente excellentere excellentste
n. sing. excellent excellenter excellentste
plural excellente excellentere excellentste
definite excellente excellentere excellentste
partitive excellents excellenters

French

Pronunciation

Adjective

excellent m (feminine singular excellente, masculine plural excellents, feminine plural excellentes)

  1. Excellent; splendid.

Verb

excellent

  1. third-person plural present indicative of exceller
  2. third-person plural present subjunctive of exceller

Latin

Verb

excellent

  1. third-person plural future active indicative of excellō