Phrase guide

in excelsis

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˌɪn ɪkˈsɛlsɪs/
  • UK: /ˌɪn ɛksˈt͡ʃɛlsɪs/

1

adj

Meaning 1

To the highest degree; archetypal, quintessential.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, postpositional

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin in excelsīs (“on high, in the highest”), as in the Gloria.