excelente

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• excellente (pre-reform spelling)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin excellentem.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /e.seˈlẽ.t͡ʃi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /e.seˈlẽ.t͡ʃi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /e.seˈlẽ.te/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /(i)ʃ.sɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, /(i).ʃɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, (careful pronunciation) /ɐjʃ.sɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, /ɐj.ʃɨˈlẽ.tɨ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /(i)ʃ.sɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, /(i).ʃɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, (careful pronunciation) /ɐjʃ.sɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, /ɐj.ʃɨˈlẽ.tɨ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /(i)ʃ.sɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, /(i).ʃɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, (careful pronunciation) /ejʃ.sɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, /ej.ʃɨˈlẽ.tɨ/
  • (Central Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /(i)ʃ.sɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, /(i).ʃɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, (careful pronunciation) /ejʃ.sɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, /ej.ʃɨˈlẽ.tɨ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /(i)ʃ.sɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, /(i).ʃɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, (careful pronunciation) /eʃ.sɨˈlẽ.tɨ/, /e.ʃɨˈlẽ.tɨ/

• (Northeast Brazil) IPA^(key): /ɛ.sɛ.ˈlẽ.tɪ/, /i.sɛ.ˈlẽ.tɪ/

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ex‧ce‧len‧te

Adjective

excelente m or f (plural excelentes)

1. excellent
   • 1880, Maria Amalia Vaz de Carvalho, “Uma historia verdadeira [A true story]”, in Contos e phantasias [Short stories and fantasies]‎^[1], 2nd edition, Lisbon: Parceria Antonio Maria Pereira, published 1905, page 44:

     O marquez, cynico como a vida o tornára, era juiz excellente n’este assumpto.

     The marquess, the cynic life had turned him into, was an excellent judge of this matter.

Derived terms

• excelentemente

Related terms

• excelência

Further reading

• “excelente”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “excelente”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Alternative forms

• excellente (obsolete)
• exelente (misspelling)

Etymology

From Latin excellentem. Cognate with Italian eccellente, French excellent, English excellent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɡsθeˈlente/ [eɣ̞s.θeˈlẽn̪.t̪e] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /eɡseˈlente/ [eɣ̞.seˈlẽn̪.t̪e] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ente
• Syllabification: ex‧ce‧len‧te

Adjective

excelente m or f (masculine and feminine plural excelentes, superlative excelentísimo)

1. excellent, brilliant, superb
2. copacetic (US slang)
3. tiptop, topnotch, top notch

   Synonym: de primera

Derived terms

• excelentemente
• exceler

Related terms

• excelencia

Further reading

• “excelente”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025