exclude
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to shut or keep out; prevent the entrance of.
- Antonyms:
- include
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to shut out from consideration, privilege, etc..
Employees and their relatives were excluded from participation in the contest.
-
to expel and keep out; thrust out; eject.
He was excluded from the club for infractions of the rules.
- Synonyms:
- reject
verb
-
to keep out; prevent from entering
-
to reject or not consider; leave out
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to expel forcibly; eject
-
to debar from school, either temporarily or permanently, as a form of punishment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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excludernoun
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unexcludedadjective
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preexcludeverb (used with object)
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excludableadjective
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exclusoryadjective
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unexcludingadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
have excludedperfect
-
has excludedperfect 3rd person singular
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am excludingprogressive 1st person singular
-
have been excludingperfect progressive
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has been excludingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are excludingprogressive
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is excludingprogressive 3rd person singular
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excludessingular 3rd person
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excludingparticiple
Past
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had excludedperfect
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was excludingprogressive singular
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were excludingprogressive plural
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had been excludingperfect progressive
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excludedsimple
-
excludedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of exclude
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin exclūdere “to shut out, cut off,” from ex- ex- 1 + -clūdere, combining form of claudere “to shut, close”
Compare meaning
How does exclude compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Exclude means to leave out — like when the cool kids won't let you in on their game of four-square or the pizza guy leaves your neighborhood out from his delivery zone. Exclude comes to us from the Latin word excludere, which means "to shut." So essentially, when you exclude someone you slam the door in their face one way or another: You won't let them into the party, you leave them off the invite list, or refuse to include them in the conversation once they arrive. Needless to say, excluding others is not very nice.
Vocabulary lists containing exclude
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Case Closed: Clud, Clus
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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Exclude the defeat by Liverpool, in which they were unlucky to concede a penalty and to not score, and they are averaging four goals per game in their past three.
From BBC • Feb. 20, 2025
Exclude: Caulking or sealing openings that may allow ants inside can prevent invasion.
From Seattle Times • May 4, 2023
Exclude the Rockies, who’ll be No. 1 in scoring both years.
From Washington Post • Sep. 11, 2015
Exclude the fillip from the float in working capital which runs at an enormous number, $2.7 billion in 3 years.
From Forbes • Feb. 6, 2013
And if she did that I might have more evidence against him, or be able to Exclude Him from My Investiations.
From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
