Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

in excelsis

/ˌɪn ɪkˈsɛlsɪs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.84 in modern English

Syllables: in- ex-cel-sis
IPA: /ˌɪn ɪkˈsɛlsɪs/

19

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

To the highest degree; archetypal, quintessential.

Example Sentences

"[…] it was impossible to believe that one mind directed the singer and another the pianist, and if the voice was an example of art in excelsis, not less exalted was the perfection of the player."
"It can only be AC/DC: black black black! with the first single from their first new album in eight years, Black Ice. It's blues-metal heaviosity in exelcis^([sic])."
"Then it’s early R.E.M. in excelsis: seething momentum, cascading guitar arpeggios, power-pop punch in the arrangements, and words that have the intermittent uncanny lucidity of sleep talk (“These rivers of suggestion are driving me away”)."

Etymology

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

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /ˌɪn ɪkˈsɛlsɪs/

Questions

How do you pronounce in excelsis?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌɪn ɪkˈsɛlsɪs/.
What does in excelsis mean?: To the highest degree; archetypal, quintessential.
Where does in excelsis come from?: Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin in excelsīs (“on high, in the highest”), as in the Gloria.

How to pronounce in excelsis

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “in excelsis”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌɪn ɪkˈsɛlsɪs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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