exception

American  

[ik-sep-shuhn] / ɪkˈsɛp ʃən /

noun

1. the act of excepting or the fact of being excepted.

2. something excepted; an instance or case not conforming to the general rule.

3. an adverse criticism, especially on a particular point; opposition of opinion; objection; demurral.

   a statement liable to exception.

4. Law.

   1. an objection, as to a ruling of the court in the course of a trial.

   2. a notation that an objection is preserved for purposes of appeal.

      saving an exception.

---

idioms

1. take exception,

   1. to make an objection; demur.

      They took exception to several points in the contract.

   2. to take offense.

      She took exception to what I said about her brother.

exception British  

/ ɪkˈsɛpʃən /

noun

1. the act of excepting or fact of being excepted; omission

2. anything excluded from or not in conformance with a general rule, principle, class, etc

3. criticism, esp when it is adverse; objection

4. law (formerly) a formal objection in the course of legal proceedings

5. law a clause or term in a document that restricts the usual legal effect of the document

6. 1. (usually foll by to) to make objections (to); demur (at)

   2. (often foll by at) to be offended (by); be resentful (at)

---

exception More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing exception

• except for (with the exception of)
• make an exception
• take exception to

---

Other Word Forms

• exceptionless adjective
• preexception noun

Etymology

Origin of exception

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English excepcioun, from Latin exceptiōn-, stem of exceptiō; equivalent to except ¹ + -ion

Example Sentences

Last April was an exception because the recovery was so explosive.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

We learned a lot from German Wikipedia and Stack Overflow about how A.I. restrictions can be implemented and what constitutes a reasonable exception.

From Slate • Apr. 1, 2026

With the exception of farmers who own fenced-off fields, the rest must keep their flocks in their pens.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

Leicester head coach Geoff Parling took exception to TNT Sport presenter Liam ‌MacDevitt kicking for goal while his players were under the Villa Park posts warming up to take on Gloucester.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

Even Daryn Lehoux, who thinks the Romans had everything we have, acknowledges one exception: There were no ancient universities, no scientific conferences, no journals where investigators published their results.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• anomaly
• exemption
• oddity
• privilege