English Reference
Adjective

surpassing

adj.
C1 Advanced US /sɝˈpæsɪŋ/ UK /səpˈɑːsɪŋ/ sur·pass·ing

adj.describing something that is much better or greater than anything else of its kind.

adj.exceeding expectations or standard limits; exceptional in degree or quality. Often used to describe abstract qualities like beauty, skill, or intelligence.


SIMPLE

The view from the mountain top is of surpassing beauty.

CONTEXTUAL

She showed a surpassing talent for mathematics even before she started primary school.

COMPLEX

The composer's final symphony was a work of surpassing complexity, weaving together themes that had appeared separately throughout his earlier career.

Usage

Typically used attributively before a noun to emphasize an extreme or superior quality.

Pitfall
He is surpassing at tennisHe is surpassing in his tennis skills

While 'surpassing' describes a quality, it is rarely used as a predicative adjective to describe a person directly; it usually modifies a specific noun like 'skill' or 'beauty'.

Those numbers put the outbreak on track to potentially become the deadliest Ebola epidemic ever recorded, surpassing the 2014 to 2016 West Africa outbreak, which killed more than 11,000 people among over 28,000 cases.

UN News· 13 Aug 2026

And it said that it was "likely that 2026 could see the highest number of heat-associated deaths on record", surpassing the number in 2022 when the agency started studying them.

BBC News· 6 Aug 2026
This entry
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Occasional
Updated