exclude
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to shut or keep out; prevent the entrance of.
- Antonyms:
- include
-
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
-
to expel forcibly; eject
-
to debar from school, either temporarily or permanently, as a form of punishment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
excludernoun
-
preexcludeverb (used with object)
-
excludableadjective
-
exclusoryadjective
-
unexcludedadjective
-
unexcludingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
excludesimple
-
excludessimple
-
have excludedperfect
-
has excludedperfect
-
am excludingprogressive
-
are excludingprogressive
-
is excludingprogressive
-
have been excludingperfect progressive
-
has been excludingperfect progressive
Past
-
excludedsimple
-
had excludedperfect
-
was excludingprogressive
-
were excludingprogressive
-
had been excludingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
The expected announcement from Mahmood comes less than a week after a call from grooming gang survivors to exclude sex offenders from early release.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Each would exclude companies determined by fund managers to be “founded, controlled or led by” Musk, or which he is “primarily associated” with as a major shareholder or founder.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
The UN worries that the new focus on strategic sectors along with the use of subsidies and other incentives by those with deep pockets will exclude many countries from an established path to higher incomes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Repasi said he wants to ensure the rules apply to company employees where they work, not where the business is based -- and also wants to exclude sectors like catering and construction from the rules.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
The gates to the stable-yard where we were bound had been closed to exclude the gaze of the curious.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
After seeing Tuesday’s consumer-inflation numbers, many economists estimated that the core version of the PCE index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose by 0.1% or 0.2% last month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
It also excludes walk-ins and any more reservations made throughout the day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Adjusted net income, which excludes nonrecurring items, fell 25.8% to $1.03 billion, while adjusted earnings per share declined to $1.56 from $2.12 but beat the FactSet EPS consensus of $1.49.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
Their conclusion remains cautious: partner preference is one possible parsimonious mechanism, but it excludes neither demographic bias nor more complex scenarios.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026
It thus systematically excludes from consideration the very feature which makes scientific arguments distinctive: their appeal to superior evidence.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
However, the authors note that this choice could also have excluded some genuinely weak extraterrestrial signals.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
Terrified of the world, but determined to better understand what she’s been excluded from for so long, she’s determined to imagine her way into reality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Judges at Manhattan's second circuit of appeals sent the previously dismissed cases back to a lower court for further proceedings, after ruling that a district judge had improperly excluded expert witness testimony.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Powell, who was awarded an MBE for his youth sprint coaching nurturing GB athletes, said despite London Diamond League often selling out, some people would still be excluded by the "exorbitant" prices.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Noise from outside the house was excluded completely, and even homelier indoor sounds were muffled, and sometimes even eliminated somehow.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
But even excluding food and energy products, prices were broadly flat, evidence that inflation trends improved.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Across his World Cup career, excluding shootouts, Messi has now converted only four of his eight penalties.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
A further furor was ignited over federal investigators excluding state and local agencies from participating in an investigation.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
The initial draft of AB 46 had proposed also excluding attempted murder charges from the diversion program, but this language was later removed during revisions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Drew followed, but Erin kept her back to him, excluding him from the conversation.
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
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.
