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• ex
  ex

  preposition

  without, not including, or without the right to have.
• EX
  EX

  abbreviation

  extinct.
• ex-
  ex-

  a prefix meaning “out of,” “from,” and hence “utterly,” “thoroughly,” and sometimes meaning “not” or “without” or indicating a former title, status, etc.; freely used as an English formative: exstipulate; exterritorial; ex-president (former president); ex-member; ex-wife .
• ex.
  ex.

  abbreviation

  examination.
• Ex.
  Ex.

  abbreviation

  Exodus.

ex

¹ American  

[eks] / ɛks /

preposition

1. Finance. without, not including, or without the right to have.

   ex interest; ex rights.

2. Commerce. free of charges to the purchaser until the time of removal from a specified place or thing.

   ex ship; ex warehouse; ex elevator.

3. (in U.S. colleges and universities) from, but not graduated with, the class of.

   ex '47.

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ex ² American  

[eks] / ɛks /

noun

Informal.

1. a former spouse or a former partner in a long-term romantic relationship; ex-wife, ex-husband, or ex-lover.

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ex ³ American  

[eks] / ɛks /

noun

1. the letter X, x.

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ex ⁴ American  

[eks] / ɛks /

adjective

Slang.

1. excellent.

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EX ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Biology, Ecology. extinct.

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ex- ⁶ American  

1. a prefix meaning “out of,” “from,” and hence “utterly,” “thoroughly,” and sometimes meaning “not” or “without” or indicating a former title, status, etc.; freely used as an English formative: exstipulate; exterritorial; ex-president (former president); ex-member; ex-wife .

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ex- ⁷ American  

1. variant of exo-.

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ex- ⁸ American  

1. a prefix identical in meaning with ex- 1, occurring before vowels in words of Greek origin: exarch; exegesis .

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ex. ⁹ American  

abbreviation

1. examination.

2. examined.

3. example.

4. except.

5. exception.

6. exchange.

7. excursion.

8. executed.

9. executive.

10. express.

11. extra.

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Ex. ¹⁰ American  

abbreviation

Bible.

1. Exodus.

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ex- ¹ British  

prefix

1. out of; outside of; from

   exclosure

   exurbia

2. former

   ex-wife

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ex ² British  

/ ɛks /

preposition

1. finance not participating in; excluding; without

   ex bonus

   ex dividend

   ex rights

2. commerce without charge to the buyer until removed from

   ex quay

   ex ship

   ex works

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ex ³ British  

/ ɛks /

noun

1. informal (a person's) former wife, husband, etc

2. short for examination

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Ex. ⁴ British  

abbreviation

1. Exodus

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ex- ⁵ British  

combining form

1. a variant of exo-

   exergonic

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Etymology

Origin of ex¹

First recorded in 1835–45; from Latin; see ex- ¹

Origin of ex²

First recorded in 1820–30; by shortening

Origin of ex⁴

First recorded in 1920–25; by shortening

Origin of ex-⁶

< Latin, combining form of ex, ē (preposition) out (of ), from, beyond

Origin of ex-⁸

From Greek combining form of ex, ek, “out (of), from, beyond”; see ec-, ex- ¹

Example Sentences

"Also the movie is saying sometimes it's better not to stay in the relationship," said Wilde, who has two children with her ex, actor Jason Sudeikis, and dated singer Harry Styles.

From Barron's • Jun. 25, 2026

She told me her ex was a public defender, and he had shared stories about the lives people carry beneath the facts of their cases.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

Had it just been my dog and me, this wouldn’t have been a problem, as I knew she’d eventually get settled, but my ex couldn’t deal with it, and we cut the stay short.

From Salon • Jun. 1, 2026

For Apple, as for Jobs, the whole episode involved the kind of deus ex machina you could never get away with in fiction.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026

The first was the problem of the creation of life from nonlife—genesis ex nihilo.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• earlier
• past
• preceding