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Showing results for exclusionary.
Synonyms

exclusionary

American  
[ik-skloo-zhuh-ner-ee] / ɪkˈsklu ʒəˌnɛr i /

adjective

  1. having the effect of excluding or shutting out someone or something.

    In wealthy suburbs with good schools, exclusionary zoning policies often block affordable housing development and keep out low-income people.

Etymology

Origin of exclusionary

exclusion ( def. ) + -ary ( def. )

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.

A legal battle over WhatsApp's privacy policy began in March 2021 when the CCI ordered an investigation, alleging that Meta was engaging in "exploitative and exclusionary conduct".

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026

What he had originally understood as a welcoming LGBTQ+ community now felt exclusionary and hostile.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

As the castle doctrine spread across the English colonies, including North America, it took its essential exclusionary principles with it.

From Slate • Oct. 23, 2025

“It feels really lifeless and exclusionary, and the love that those centers had for their students — that love hasn’t found its place back to campus yet,” she said in an interview.

From Salon • Sep. 22, 2025

While I was encouraged by their militancy, I thought that their philosophy, in its concentration on blackness, was exclusionary, and represented an intermediate view that was not fully mature.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

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.