Meaning & use
excellent
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Extremely good; of outstanding quality, skill, or character.
Grammar: Already an extreme adjective; avoid 'very excellent'. Use 'truly' or 'simply' for emphasis.
Patterns
- excellent at something
- excellent in something
She did an excellent job on the project.
The food at that restaurant is excellent.
He is excellent at solving difficult problems.
interjection
Used to express approval or agreement.
Grammar: Said alone as a response: 'Excellent! Let's start.'
Excellent! I'll book the tickets.
You finished already? Excellent!
Common combinations
- excellent quality
- The hotel offers excellent quality service.
- excellent condition
- The car is in excellent condition.
- excellent opportunity
- This job is an excellent opportunity for you.
- excellent at
- She is excellent at mathematics.
Synonyms and how they differ
- outstanding
- Emphasizes being much better than others; often used for performance or achievement.
- superb
- Slightly more emphatic and often used for quality or performance.
- great
- More informal and less strong than 'excellent'.
Opposites
Word family
- excellence noun
- The quality of being excellent.
- excellently adverb
- In an excellent manner.
Commonly confused: excellent or excellent at?
excellent vs excellent at
Use 'at' before a skill or activity: excellent at tennis. Use 'in' before a field: excellent in mathematics.
Practice
She is excellent _____ playing the piano.
Choose one answer.
We say 'excellent at' before a skill or activity. 'Excellent in' is used for fields like 'excellent in mathematics', but not for a specific activity like playing the piano.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “excellent”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.