exceed

exceed — verb

1. to go past or rise above a set number, limit, or standard — for example, when th

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to go past or rise above a set number, limit, or standard — for example, when the final price of something is higher than the amount planned, or when a driver travels at a speed above what the law allows, or when a result turns out better than previously thought possible.

Example

The final cost of the festival exceeded the original budget by almost forty percent.

exceed + budget for amount comparison

Hao's taxi driver exceeded the speed limit on the long empty highway at night.

exceed + speed limit

Common collocations
  • exceed a budget
  • exceed the speed limit
  • exceed expectations
  • exceed a limit
  • exceed capacity
  • exceed a deadline
  • exceed one's authority
  • exceed a quota
  • exceed the maximum dose
  • far exceed
  • greatly exceed
  • slightly exceed
Synonyms
  • surpass

    More common with achievements and records (surpassed all previous sales figures); slightly more formal than exceed.

  • go beyond

    More general and less formal than exceed; can replace exceed in most contexts (the cost went beyond the limit).

  • top

    Informal; often used for reaching a high point or besting a record (the new product topped last year's sales).

  • beat

    Informal; common in competitive contexts (beat the previous record by a wide margin).

Antonyms
  • fall short of

    Implies not reaching a target or standard (the results fell short of expectations).

  • be under

    Used with amounts and budgets (the spending was under the limit).

Grammar Patterns

exceed + noun phrase (amount / limit / expectation)

be exceeded by + noun phrase

Usage Note

Common in formal and written English, especially in business, legal, and academic contexts. Always takes a direct object — you cannot say "exceed to something" or "exceed someone to do something." Frequently used in the passive voice (the limit was exceeded).

Common Mistakes

The cost exceeded to the original budget.
The cost exceeded the original budget.
Exceed is a transitive verb and does not take the preposition 'to.'
He exceeded to finish the work on time.
He finished the work ahead of schedule.
Exceed is not followed by an infinitive; use a noun phrase instead.
The speed was exceeded 80 km/h.
The speed exceeded 80 km/h.
Use the active voice when giving the specific value that was passed.

Word family

  • excess
    nounB2
  • excessive
    adjectiveB2
  • excessively
    adverbB2
  • exceeding
    adjectiveC1
  • exceedingly
    adverbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Exceed and surpass both mean 'to go beyond a particular point,' but they differ in typical use. Exceed is the standard choice for numbers, limits, and rules (exceed the speed limit, exceed a budget). Surpass is more common with achievements, records, and qualities (surpass all expectations, surpass a rival's performance). Go beyond is the most neutral and informal replacement: the cost went beyond what we could afford. Top is informal and suggests reaching and then passing a high point (the film topped the box-office charts). For legal or official limits, exceed is the only natural choice — surpass would sound odd in exceed the time limit or exceed one's authority.

exceed ↗surpass ↗go beyond ↗top

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • exceed the speed limit
  • exceed someone's expectations
  • exceed one's authority
  • exceed the maximum dose
  • exceed a budget

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Exceed comes from Latin 'excedere' — a combination of 'ex-' (out, beyond) and 'cedere' (to go, to yield). The original sense was 'to go out or go beyond.' It passed through French 'exceder' before entering English in the 14th century with the meaning of 'to go beyond a limit or boundary.'