ex ‧ cel ‧ lent S1 W2 /ˈeks ə lənt/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ excellence , ↑ Excellency ; verb : ↑ excel ; adverb : ↑ excellently ; adjective : ↑ excellent ]
1 . extremely good or of very high quality:
an excellent suggestion
His car is in excellent condition.
Second-hand computers can be excellent value.
2 . spoken said when you approve of something SYN great :
‘I’ll bring the books over tonight.’ ‘Excellent.’
—excellently adverb
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THESAURUS
▪ excellent extremely good or of very high quality:
His English was excellent.
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an excellent piece of work
▪ great spoken extremely good. Great is less formal than excellent , and is the usual word to use in everyday spoken English:
‘Did you have a good holiday?' 'It was great!’
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He did a great job as captain.
▪ fantastic/terrific/wonderful spoken extremely good. These words sound even more excited than great or excellent :
‘I passed my exam.’ ‘That’s fantastic!’
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Last year Jess had a terrific season, averaging eleven points a game.
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The trip will be a wonderful opportunity for the children.
▪ amazing/incredible extremely good in a surprising and exciting way:
an amazing view of Tokyo
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The trip was an incredible experience.
▪ superb extremely good – used especially when you are very impressed by something:
The acting was superb.
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There is a superb range of cheeses.
▪ first-class of a high quality and much better than most others:
The service is first-class.
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a first-class restaurant
▪ outstanding extremely good – used when saying how well someone does something:
He’s an outstanding player.
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It was an outstanding performance by a talented young actor.
▪ exceptional unusually good – used when saying that someone or something is much better than any others:
She has an exceptional talent.
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He writes good essays, but I wouldn’t say that his work is particularly exceptional.
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Merits are given as an honour for exceptional achievement.
▪ out of this world [not before noun] spoken informal used when saying that something is so good that it is better than anything you could have imagined:
The food is out of this world.
▪ awesome especially American English very good:
It was an awesome concert.