exalted

IPA/ɪɡˈzɔːltɪd/
KK[ɪɡzˈɔltɪd]IPA/ɪɡˈzɔːltɪd/

exalted — adjective

  • exaltedpositive
  • more exaltedcomparative
  • most exaltedsuperlative

1. occupying a very senior place in a group, government, or social order, or marked

1.adjectiveC2
Definition

occupying a very senior place in a group, government, or social order, or marked by noble character that places someone above ordinary people.

Example

Tendai held the exalted position of chief justice for nearly twenty years.

attributive: exalted + position

Few employees ever meet anyone of such exalted rank inside the company.

exalted + rank (status noun)

Common collocations
  • exalted position
  • exalted rank
  • exalted title
  • exalted figure
  • exalted ideals
  • exalted character
Synonyms
  • lofty

    shares the sense of high status, but more often describes ideals or tone

  • eminent

    stresses being widely respected within a field

  • illustrious

    emphasises a long, glorious record of achievement

Antonyms
  • lowly

    of humble rank or position

  • humble

    modest in rank or attitude

Grammar Patterns

exalted + position/rank/title

the exalted + noun

Usage Note

Almost always used before a noun (attributive). Subjects describe people, positions, titles, or abstract qualities such as ideals or character; rarely applied to objects.

Common Mistakes

The chair feels very exalted today.
The judge holds a very exalted position today.
'exalted' attaches to status or character, not everyday objects or feelings.
She is exalted in the room.
She holds an exalted place in the room.
predicate use sounds odd; pair 'exalted' with a status noun.

2. feeling lifted up by intense joy or excitement, often after a moving or triumpha

2.adjectiveC2
Definition

feeling lifted up by intense joy or excitement, often after a moving or triumphant experience.

Example

Vinícius felt exalted as the choir's final notes filled the cathedral.

predicative: feel + exalted

Hui walked out of the concert hall exalted by every piece of music.

exalted + by + noun (cause of joy)

Common collocations
  • feel exalted
  • look exalted
  • exalted by music
  • strangely exalted
Synonyms
  • elated

    very happy and excited; more common in everyday speech

  • jubilant

    openly joyful, usually after a victory

  • rapturous

    wild, almost overwhelming joy, often in artistic contexts

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

feel exalted

exalted by + noun

Usage Note

Used predicatively (after 'be', 'feel', 'look'); distinguishes from sense 1, which is attributive and about social rank. The cause of the joy is usually marked with 'by'.

Common Mistakes

He is exalted about his new job.
He is delighted about his new job.
for everyday happiness, use 'delighted' or 'thrilled'; 'exalted' suggests a deeper, almost spiritual lift.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words point to a person, role, or quality standing high above the ordinary, but they differ in flavour. 'Exalted' stresses the height of the position itself — a chief justice, a queen, a noble ideal — and often carries a slightly ceremonial or even reverent tone. 'Eminent' focuses on being widely recognised within a particular field, as in 'an eminent biologist'; you earn it through visible achievement. 'Illustrious' adds a sense of long, glorious history: 'an illustrious career spanning forty years'. 'Lofty' often shifts from people to abstract things — lofty ideals, lofty ambitions — and can also hint at being unrealistic. Compare: an exalted judge holds high office; an eminent judge is widely respected by peers; an illustrious judge is remembered for a celebrated career; a judge with lofty principles aims at noble standards.

exalted ↗eminent ↗illustrious ↗lofty ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • of exalted rank
  • in exalted company
  • the exalted figure of

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Comes from the Latin verb 'exaltare', meaning to lift up or raise high (built from 'ex-' = out/up and 'altus' = high). The word entered English through Old French in the 14th century, first in religious writing about lifting up the soul or praising God. By the 15th–16th centuries it had broadened to describe lifting people in rank, and later to describe a lifted, joyful emotional state.