Meaning & use
exceeding
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounliteraryarchaic
Very great in degree; going far beyond what is usual.
Grammar: Comes before a noun and sounds old or literary: exceeding joy.
Patterns
- exceeding joy
- exceeding kindness
They greeted the king with exceeding joy.
She showed exceeding kindness to the strangers.
The story ends with exceeding sadness.
verbtransitive
Going beyond a limit, amount or expectation; this is the -ing form of exceed.
Grammar: Takes an object: exceeding the speed limit.
Patterns
- exceeding the limit
- exceeding expectations
Drivers exceeding the speed limit will be fined.
Sales are exceeding expectations this quarter.
Any bags exceeding 20 kilograms must be checked in.
Word forms
| base form | exceed |
|---|---|
| past tense | exceeded |
| third person singular | exceeds |
Common combinations
- exceeding the speed limit
- The driver was fined for exceeding the speed limit.
- exceeding expectations
- The product is exceeding expectations.
- exceeding joy
- He wept with exceeding joy.
- exceeding the budget
- The project is exceeding the budget by thousands.
- exceeding great
- Their reward shall be exceeding great.
Synonyms and how they differ
- extreme
- Extreme is the normal modern word for very great, while exceeding sounds old and Biblical.
- extraordinary
- Extraordinary means unusually remarkable and works in modern speech, whereas exceeding is mostly literary.
- surpassing
- Surpassing is also literary and suggests going beyond all others, while exceeding suggests great degree.
- immense
- Immense describes huge size or amount and is ordinary in modern English, unlike exceeding.
Opposites
Word family
- exceed verb
- to go beyond a limit
- exceedingly adverb
- extremely
- excess noun
- an amount beyond what is needed or allowed
- excessive adjective
- more than is necessary or reasonable
Commonly confused: exceeding or exceedingly? exceeding or proceeding?
exceeding vs exceedingly
Exceedingly is the adverb meaning very, as in exceedingly rare; exceeding is mainly the adjective or participle.
exceeding vs proceeding
Proceeding means going forward, whereas exceeding means going beyond a limit.
Practice
Which sentence uses exceeding as the -ing form of the verb exceed?
Choose one answer.
Exceeding the limit means going over the limit, a verb use. In the other options exceeding is the old-fashioned adjective meaning very great.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “exceeding”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.