Related Words
Exemption, immunity, impunity imply special privilege or freedom from imposed requirements. Exemption implies release or privileged freedom from some duty, tax, etc.: exemption from military service. Immunity implies freedom from a penalty or from some liability, especially one that is disagreeable or threatening: immunity from disease. Impunity (limited mainly to the fixed expression with impunity ) primarily suggests freedom from punishment: The police force was so inadequate that crimes could be committed with impunity.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of exemption
First recorded in 1350–1400; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin exemptiōn- (stem of exemptiō ) “removal.” See exempt, -ion
Explanation
When you get an exemption, you don't have to do something. In the sixties, some people got exemptions from military service during the Vietnam War. We don't often think of being left out as a good thing, but when you use the word exemption, you mean that someone has been excluded in a positive way. Children are exemptions, or deductions, on tax forms; the more children you have the less taxes you pay. Some non-profits are tax-exempt; their exemption means they pay no taxes at all. Exemptions also spare people from fighting in wars and doing some jobs. An exemption gets you off the hook.
Vocabulary lists containing exemption
Tax Day Words
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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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.
Appeared in the April 2, 2026, print edition as 'The NFL Tests Its Antitrust Exemption'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
Chopp questioned the constitutionality of the proposed property tax break, as well as another exemption the state already offers, the Multifamily Tax Exemption, or MFTE.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 1, 2024
Exemption schemes allow banned dogs to stay with their owners if a court is satisfied that they do not pose a danger to the public and that strict restrictions will be followed.
From BBC • Oct. 26, 2023
Exemption requests submitted after that will continue to be reviewed “on an individual basis and processed according to the Vaccine Exemption Procedures,” the memo says.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2023
Exemption could be purchased at the cost of half-a-crown, the whole amount to be expended on an entertainment for all hands on their return to England.
From Privateers and Privateering by Statham, E. P.
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.
