Super is a casual word meaning excellent, wonderful, or outstanding. When your friend says they had a super time at your birthday party, they mean it was really great. When someone says “super job!” after you finish a presentation, they're giving you an enthusiastic compliment.

The word also works as an intensifier to make other words stronger. If something is super easy, it's extremely easy. If you're super excited about the field trip, you're really, really excited. When you tell someone you'll be there super quick, you mean you'll arrive very quickly.

You'll see super combined with other words to mean “above” or “beyond.” A supermarket is a large market that sells many types of products. A superhero has abilities beyond those of regular people. Your supervisor at a job is someone who oversees your work. A supernatural event goes beyond what nature normally allows. A superpower historically meant a nation with influence beyond its borders, though kids today often use it to mean a special ability like flying or invisibility.

That sense of going beyond the ordinary runs through all its meanings, whether you're describing something super cool or a supersonic jet that flies faster than the speed of sound.