surpass

S1U1R1P3A1S1S1
UK/səˈpɑːs/US/sɚˈpæs/

verb

To go beyond or exceed (something) in an adjudicative or literal sense.

“The former problem student surpassed his instructor's expectations and scored top marks on his examination.”

Less commonScrabble 9

Meanings

verbsurpass (third-person singular simple present surpasses, present participle surpassing, simple past and past participle surpassed)

present singular third person surpasses · participle present surpassing · participle past surpassed · past surpassed

  1. transitiveTo go beyond or exceed (something) in an adjudicative or literal sense.

    The former problem student surpassed his instructor's expectations and scored top marks on his examination.

    3 more examples

    The heavy rains threatened to surpass the capabilities of the levee, endangering the town on the other side.

    “Two or three months more went by; the public were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English peerage, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest.[…]”

    1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020

    He celebrated at full-time with a beaming smile as he collected the match ball and he notched up another milestone by becoming the sixth Welshman to surpass 50 Premier League goals.

    2021 May 2, Emma Sanders, “Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 Sheffield United”, in BBC Sport

    Synonyms: exceed, forpass, transcend, excel, outdo, outstrip, exceed

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo go beyond or exceed (something) in an adjudicative or literal sense.

More synonyms by meaning

verbdistinguish oneself

Broader

verbbe or do something to a greater degree

verbmove past

Similar

verbbe greater in scope or size than some standard

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Frenchsurpasser“to pass beyond”
  2. Englishsurpass

From Middle French surpasser (“to pass beyond”). By surface analysis, sur- + pass. Displaced native Old English oferstīgan (literally “to climb over”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ὑπερφέρω, ὑπερέχω
  • ὑπερφέρω (huperphérō)to exceed
  • ὑπερέχω (huperékhō)to exceed
  • ὑπερβάλλω (huperbállō)to exceed
  • καίνυμαι (kaínumai)to exceed
Arabic فَاقَ, تَجَاوَزَ
  • فَاقَ (fāqa)to exceed
  • تَجَاوَزَ (tajāwaza)to exceed
Bulgarian надвишавам, надминавам
  • надвишавам (nadvišavam)to exceed
  • надминавам (nadminavam)to exceed
  • надхвърлям (nadhvărljam)to exceed
Chinese Cantonese 超過 /超过
  • 超過 /超过 (ciu¹ gwo³)to exceed
Chinese Mandarin 超過 /超过, 超越
  • 超過 /超过 (chāoguò)to exceed
  • 超越 (chāoyuè)to exceed
  • 勝過 /胜过 (shèngguò)to exceed
Czech překonat
  • překonatto exceed
Danish overgå, overstige
  • overgåto exceed
  • overstigeto exceed
  • overtræffeto exceed
Dutch overstijgen, overtreffen
  • overstijgento exceed
  • overtreffento exceed
Esperanto superi
  • superito exceed
Finnish ylittää
  • ylittääto exceed
French surpasser, dépasser
  • surpasserto exceed
  • dépasserto exceed
  • excéderto exceed
German übersteigen, übertreffen
  • übersteigento exceed
  • übertreffento exceed
  • überschreitento exceed
  • überbietento exceed
  • überwindento exceed
Italian sorpassare
  • sorpassareto exceed
Japanese 超える, 勝る
  • 超える (koeru)to exceed
  • 勝る (masaru)to exceed
Latin superō, praecellō
  • superōto exceed
  • praecellōto exceed
Māori hipa, hau
  • hipato exceed
  • hauto exceed
  • pahikato exceed
Norwegian Bokmål overgå, overstige
  • overgåto exceed
  • overstigeto exceed
  • overtreffeto exceed
Polish przewyższać, przewyższyć
  • przewyższaćto exceed
  • przewyższyćto exceed
Portuguese ultrapassar, superar
  • ultrapassarto exceed
  • superarto exceed
  • suplantarto exceed
  • sobrepassarto exceed
Romanian depăși, întrece
  • depășito exceed
  • întreceto exceed
Russian превосходи́ть, превзойти́
  • превосходи́ть (prevosxodítʹ)to exceed
  • превзойти́ (prevzojtí)to exceed
Spanish sobrepasar, superar
  • sobrepasarto exceed
  • superarto exceed
Swedish överskrida, överträffa
  • överskridato exceed
  • överträffato exceed
Ukrainian переве́ршувати, переве́ршити
  • переве́ршувати (perevéršuvaty)to exceed
  • переве́ршити (perevéršyty)to exceed
  • переви́щувати (perevýščuvaty)to exceed
  • переви́щити (perevýščyty)to exceed

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with surpass

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

surpass. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surpass

MLA

“surpass.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surpass. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “surpass,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surpass.

Source: surpass on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.