I don't think 'Exalted' is the right word

It's been bugging me all day. It didn't feel right when I typed it, but I was in a hurry so it got left. It still doesn't feel right now. But what is right? 'Esteemed' isn't. Neither is 'Superior'.

It's a sign of encroaching senility, I'm sure. The correct phrase is there in my brain, a shape made up from a series of synaptic connections. But somewhere in the middle, one of those cells has given up the ghost - one too many Martinis, probably - and now I can't quite get the meaning that I want.

I'll probably wake up in the middle of the night with the right word on my lips. Bugger all use it will be to me then.