as in overtook
to go or grow faster than (something)
Population growth has continued to outpace job growth for the last several decades. The demand for the product has outpaced the company's ability to produce it.
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Recent Examples of outpaced
Since then, its stock has outpaced major indices, rising 57% last year to lift the group’s market value to €42 billion.
—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 9 Jan. 2026
By the 17th century, Dutch traders outpaced their Spanish rivals in turning menace into efficiency.
—Valerie L. Myers, The Conversation, 8 Jan. 2026
From April through November 2025, job gains in health care and leisure and hospitality outpaced the net jobs added across the entire labor market during those eight months.
—Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 8 Jan. 2026
That advanced far outpaced the S & P 500′s 16% climb for 2025.
—Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 6 Jan. 2026
Recently, demand for the program has far outpaced what Doss can keep up with.
—Claire Rafford, IndyStar, 6 Jan. 2026
In the end, consumers appear to have produced a middling holiday season for retailers, with sales gains that appear to have just outpaced inflation.
—Evan Clark, Footwear News, 5 Jan. 2026
Five years later, Smith is in danger of being outpaced by a class of pastors and professional Christians who wear their conservatism less awkwardly and are unrepentant, primed for culture war.
—Sam Kestenbaum, Vulture, 2 Jan. 2026
The enthusiasm, however, has outpaced the research.
—Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 6 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outpaced
Verb
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Acuff overtook Isaiah Joe's 13-game run in the 2018-19 season.—
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Only Sir Don Bradman has scored more runs in Ashes cricket after Smith overtook Sir Jack Hobbs in the all-time list.—
Verb
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Saturday's figures surpassed those from Friday, when 1,024 flights were cancelled.—
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Jones already surpassed his win totals from the past two seasons combined.—
Verb
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Muñoz-Guatemala then drove with the Taser hanging out of the car window, and was arrested about a mile away by local police officers.—
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The suspect drove around the area before surrendering to police in Atwater Village.—
Cite this Entry
“Outpaced.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outpaced. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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