Your Excellency

Dignitary's formal greeting

Your Excellency is a formal title of address for high-ranking officials, particularly ambassadors, governors, and heads of state.

It conveys deference and is standard in diplomatic protocol: Your Excellency, the delegation has arrived.

The third-person form His or Her Excellency refers to such figures when speaking about rather than to them.

Related

His ExcellencyFormal address for dignitaries
BishopHigh-ranking clergy title
diplomatic corpsOfficial representatives abroad
foreign ministerHead of diplomacy
head of stateNation's chief representative

Viceroy · Pope · Holy See · form of address · His Majesty · Her Majesty · Tsar · Sultan · Maharaja · Sir · Her Excellency · embassy · diplomat · honorific · protocol · Her Excellency

Categories

titlesMr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Miss
Catholic Clergypope, pontiff, cardinal, bishop, monsignor
honorificssir, madam, Mr, Mrs, Ms
Religious Titlesfather, reverend, bishop, abbot, abbess

Opposites

formality of address

Your Excellencybuddy

Informal term for companion

pal · mate · dude · bro · hey you

social hierarchy/status

Your Excellencyscum

Surface residue or lowlifes

vermin · peasant · wretch · lowlife · nobody

Family

your, yours, yourself, yourselves, excellence, excellent, excellently, excel, excels

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Positive · Everyday, not technical · Rated G