super

adjective su·per \ ˈsü-pər \

Updated on: 7 Dec 2017

Definition of super

1 a : of high grade or quality

b —used as a generalized term of approval

a super cook

2 : very large or powerful

a super atomic bomb

3 : exhibiting the characteristics of its type to an extreme or excessive degree

super secrecy

See super defined for English-language learners

See super defined for kids

Examples of super in a Sentence

We had a super time.
“Yes, I'd love to come.” “Super! I'll see you later.”

Recent Examples of super from the Web

Hundreds of wannabe contestants lined up at Waterfront Park early Wednesday morning with the hopes of becoming a super star.

— rachel aretakis, The Courier-Journal, "Wannabe 'American Idols' descended upon Louisville. Here's what happened," 30 Aug. 2017
Those cores are kept at super-cold temperatures and in special containers to keep them well-preserved.

— avery thompson, Popular Mechanics, "A Chilly Look at America's Frozen Ice Laboratory," 24 Aug. 2017
After a tearful goodbye with his mom, the 18-year-old moved into his new school in New York City, with the help of his super-proud dad.

— erica gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "David Beckham Bringing Brooklyn to College Is the Sweetest Thing You'll See Today," 24 Aug. 2017
Already, the constituyente has left Venezuela increasingly isolated in the region as governments -- from Canada to Chile -- have denounced the super body or refused to recognize altogether.

— andrew rosati, Bloomberg.com, "Venezuela's Legislative Super Body Grabs Congress's Powers," 18 Aug. 2017
Maybe this will come into play as part of the super Game of Thrones theory.

— matt miller, Esquire, "Game of Thrones Fans Noticed Jon Snow Has a Powerful Ally He Hasn't Used Yet," 18 Aug. 2017
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC with close ties to McConnell, has pledged up to $10 million in support of Strange, including through the crucial period between the primary and the runoff.

— alexandra desanctis, National Review, "Alabama Senate Primary Tests Trump’s Clout — and McConnell’s," 15 Aug. 2017
In some respects, the super-PAC has become the biggest player in the special election outside of the candidates themselves.

— john sharp, AL.com, "Alabama Senate race on Tuesday draws national attention but what will we learn from it?," 13 Aug. 2017
Along with super random periods, other signs of PCOS are excess facial hair growth and acne.

— beth anne macaluso, Redbook, "What Your Period Says About Your Health As You Get Older," 9 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'super.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of super

super-

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1842

See Words from the same year

super Synonyms

super

noun

Definition of super

[by shortening]

a : supernumerary; especially : a supernumerary actor

b : superintendent, supervisor; especially : the superintendent of an apartment building

[short for obsolete superhive]

: a removable upper story of a beehive

[¹super]

: a superfine grade or extra large size

[origin unknown]

: a thin loosely woven open-meshed starched cotton fabric used especially for reinforcing books

See super defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of super from the Web

Go to the studio super late, do a paper, and then work on stuff for, like, four hours.

— leor galil, Chicago Reader, "Knox Fortune learned his trade in hip-hop, but he wants to make his name in pop," 1 Nov. 2017
After an epic reunion of '90s supers at the Versace show last week, there was another moment of model nostalgia at Balmain's Spring 2018 show.

— lauren alexis fisher, Harper's BAZAAR, "Balmain's Spring 2018 Runway Was Filled With Supermodels and Victoria's Secret Angels," 28 Sep. 2017
And the whiff of an old-style super-power play has also attracted the attention of a prominent regime-change opponent and US rival, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

— howard lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, "Venezuela: Do US sanctions seek regime change? Maybe not in the short term ...," 9 Sep. 2017
Lake Brantley is ranked No. 5 in 4A by the Florida Athletic Coaches Association, but the Patriots must wait on super-sophomore Ashley Klingenberg.

— OrlandoSentinel.com, "Winter Park leads the pack," 31 Aug. 2017
In most apartment buildings, the porter or super knows everyone’s business.

— kevin carey, New York Times, "Apprentices Need Expert Eye. So Does Trump’s Plan for Them.," 28 Sep. 2017
And what would this onslaught of couture creations be without appearances from Instagram It-Girls and Models.com verified supers, Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid?

— emily kirkpatrick, PEOPLE.com, "Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid Walk the Tom Ford Runway, Plus How the Rest of the Kardashian-Jenners Kicked Off Fashion Week," 7 Sep. 2017
Could this mean that the Brazilian super is taking a quick break from her catwalk retirement to walk in what will surely be a historic runway event?

— lauren alexis fisher, Harper's BAZAAR, "Is Gisele Making Her Runway Return For Chanel's Cuba Show?," 2 May 2016
New York's supers are more powerful today than ever before.

— tom acitelli, Town & Country, "Wise Guys," 3 Sep. 2013

First Known Use of super

1838

super

adverb

Definition of super

1 : very, extremely

a super fast car

2 : to an excessive degree

See super defined for English-language learners

Examples of super in a Sentence

my computer is super slow this morning

Recent Examples of super from the Web

America First Policies and its allied super political action committee, America First Action, have raised about $25 million this year and have set a goal of raising an additional $75 million over the next year, Montgomery said.

— john mccormick, Bloomberg.com, "Lewandowski Stars in Pro-Trump Ad Blitz Backing GOP Tax Plan," 3 Nov. 2017
Lacy had to contend with Sapienza-Wright and Manual senior Kathleen Simms (seventh, 19:11.33) last week in the Seneca Park super regional, so she wasn't surprised the Manual duo would be near the front again Saturday.

— nate bryan, The Courier-Journal, "Manual girls, St. Xavier boys take team titles at Class 3A state cross country meet," 4 Nov. 2017
This moc slipper is super plush yet still masculine.

— the good housekeeping institute, Good Housekeeping, "Lands' End Men's Suede Moc Slipper," 2 Nov. 2017
Jock Landale is a super-productive interior scorer, and Calvin Hermanson and Emmett Naar both drained more than 40% of their three-point attempts last season.

— SI.com, "Duke, Arizona Headline the Top 50 Offenses in College Basketball," 30 Oct. 2017
Her next project is a breath of fresh comedic air: super-meta buddy cop series Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television, streaming October 25 on YouTube Red.

— alyse whitney, Bon Appetit, "How Samira Wiley Practices Self-Care After a Long Day on 'The Handmaid's Tale'," 26 Oct. 2017
There is an existing shingles vaccine, made by Merck—basically a super-large dose of its live chicken-pox vaccine—but it is not recommended for immunocompromised patients.

— sarah zhang, The Atlantic, "Why Do We Need Separate Chicken-Pox and Shingles Vaccines?," 25 Oct. 2017
In the last month, Swift has stayed mostly under the radar, although she's held private listening parties for fans in London and made at least one house visit to surprise a super-fan.

— raisa bruner, Time, "Taylor Swift Just Teased Her New Song. Here's What to Know.," 19 Oct. 2017
So could super-cheap gas prices and a lack of investment in charging infrastructure.

— National Geographic, "Electric Cars May Rule the World’s Roads by 2040," 13 Sep. 2017

Origin and Etymology of super

super-

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1946

See Words from the same year

super Synonyms

Synonyms

achingly, almighty, archly, awful, awfully, badly, beastly, blisteringly, bone, colossally, corking, cracking, damn, damned, dang, deadly, desperately, eminently, enormously, especially, ever, exceedingly (also exceeding), extra, extremely, fabulously, fantastically, far, fiercely, filthy, frightfully, full, greatly, heavily, highly, hugely, immensely, incredibly, intensely, jolly, majorly, mightily, mighty, monstrous [chiefly dialect], mortally, most, much, particularly, passing, rattling, real, really, right, roaring, roaringly, seriously, severely, so, sore, sorely, spanking, specially, stinking, such, very, supremely, surpassingly, terribly, that, thumping, too, unco, uncommonly, vastly, vitally, way, whacking, wicked, wildly

Antonyms

little, negligibly, nominally, slightly, somewhat

Near Antonyms

meagerly, scantily; barely, hardly, just, marginally, minimally, scarcely

super-

prefix

Definition of super-

1 a (1) : over and above : higher in quantity, quality, or degree than : more than

superhuman

(2) : in addition : extra

supertax

b (1) : exceeding or so as to exceed a norm

superheat

(2) : in or to an extreme or excessive degree or intensity

supersubtle

c : surpassing all or most others of its kind

superhighway

2 a : situated or placed above, on, or at the top of

superlunary

; specifically : situated on the dorsal side of

b : next above or higher

supertonic

3 : having the (specified) ingredient present in a large or unusually large proportion

superphosphate

4 : constituting a more inclusive category than that specified

superfamily

5 : superior in status, title, or position

superpower

superabsorbent
superaccurate
superachiever
superactivity
superaddition
superadministrator
superagent
superambitious
superathlete
superbad
superbank
superbillionaire
superbitch
superboard
superbomb
superbomber
superbright
superbureaucrat
supercabinet
supercarrier
supercautious
supercheap
superchic
superchurch
supercivilization
supercivilized
superclean
superclub
supercolossal
supercomfortable
supercompetent
supercompetitive
superconfident
superconglomerate
superconservative
superconvenient
supercop
supercorporation
supercriminal
supercute
superdeluxe
superdiplomat
supereffective
superefficiency
superefficient
superegoist
superelite
supereminence
supereminent
supereminently
superexpensive
superexpress
superfan
superfarm
superfast
superfirm
superflack
supergood
supergovernment
supergrowth
superharden
superheavy
superhit
superhot
superhype
superinsulated
superintellectual
superintelligence
superintelligent
superintensity
superjock
superlarge
superlawyer
superlight
superlobbyist
superlong
superloyalist
superluxurious
superluxury
supermacho
supermale
supermasculine
supermassive
supermilitant
supermillionaire
supermind
superminister
supermodern
supernation
supernational
supernutrition
superorganic
superorgasm
superpatriot
superpatriotic
superpatriotism
superperson
superpersonal
superphenomenon
superpimp
superplane
superplayer
superpolite
superport
superpowerful
superpremium
superpro
superprofit
superquality
superrace
superreal
superrealism
superregional
superrich
superroad
superromantic
superromanticism
supersafe
supersale
supersalesman
superscale
superschool
superscout
supersecrecy
supersecret
supersell
superseller
supersensitive
supersensitivity
supersexuality
supersharp
supershow
supersinger
supersize
supersized
supersleuth
superslick
supersmart
supersmooth
supersoft
supersophisticated
superspecial
superspecialist
superspecialization
superspecialized
superspectacle
superspectacular
superspeculation
superspy
superstate
superstation
superstimulate
superstock
superstratum
superstrength
superstrike
superstrong
superstud
supersubtle
supersubtlety
supersurgeon
supersweet
supertanker
superterrific
superthick
superthin
superthriller
supertight
supervirile
supervirtuoso
superwave
superweapon
superwide
superwife

See super- defined for English-language learners

See super- defined for kids

Origin and Etymology of super-

Latin, over, above, in addition, from super over, above, on top of — more at over

SUPER Defined for English Language Learners

super

adjective

Definition of super for English Language Learners

: extremely good

super

adverb

Definition of super for English Language Learners

: very or extremely

super-

prefix

Definition of super- for English Language Learners

: bigger, better, or more important than others of the same kind
: superior in position or rank

SUPER Defined for Kids

super

adjective su·per \ ˈsü-pər \

Definition of super for Students

1 : very great

super strength

2 : very good

Mrs. Haver said we did a super job.
—Judy Blume, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

super-

prefix

Definition of super- for Students

1 : more than

superhuman

2 : extremely : very

Learn More about super

See words that rhyme with super Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for super Spanish Central: Translation of super Nglish: Translation of super for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of super for Arabic speakers

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