exclusive

[ik-skloo-siv, -ziv]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR exclusive ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not admitting of something else; incompatible: mutually exclusive plans of action.

omitting from consideration or account (often followed by of): a profit of ten percent, exclusive of taxes.

limited to the object or objects designated: exclusive attention to business.

shutting out all others from a part or share: an exclusive right to film the novel.

fashionable; stylish: to patronize only the most exclusive clothing designers.

charging comparatively high prices; expensive: exclusive shops.

noting that in which no others have a share: exclusive information.

single or sole: the exclusive means of communication between two places.

disposed to resist the admission of outsiders to association, intimacy, etc.: an exclusive circle of intimate friends.

admitting only members of a socially restricted or very carefully selected group: an exclusive club.

excluding or tending to exclude or prohibit, as from use or possession: exclusive laws; exclusive restrictions on use of the property.

Grammar. (of the first person plural) not including the person or persons spoken to, as we in We'll see you later.Compare inclusive(def 4).

noun

Journalism. a piece of news, or the reporting of a piece of news, obtained by a newspaper or other news organization, along with the privilege of using it first.

an exclusive right or privilege: to have an exclusive on providing fuel oil to the area.

Origin of exclusive

1400–50; 1900–05 for def 13; late Middle English (adj.) < Medieval Latin exclūsīvus. See exclusion, -ive

Related formsex·clu·sive·ly, adverbex·clu·sive·ness, ex·clu·siv·i·ty

[eks-kloo-siv-i-tee] /ˌɛks kluˈsɪv ɪ ti/, nounnon·ex·clu·sive, adjectivepre·ex·clu·sive, adjectivepre·ex·clu·sive·ly, adverbsem·i·ex·clu·sive, adjectivesem·i·ex·clu·sive·ly, adverbsem·i·ex·clu·sive·ness, nounul·tra·ex·clu·sive, adjectiveul·tra·ex·clu·sive·ly, adverbul·tra·ex·clu·sive·ness, nounun·ex·clu·sive, adjectiveun·ex·clu·sive·ly, adverbun·ex·clu·sive·ness, noun

Synonyms for exclusive

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR exclusive ON THESAURUS.COM

9. select, narrow, clannish, snobbish, restrictive, cliquish, illiberal.

Antonyms for exclusive

2. inclusive.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for exclusively

completely, wholly, only, alone, entirely, solely, but, singularly

Examples from the Web for exclusively

Contemporary Examples of exclusively

The new information consisted of Internet protocol addresses that Comey said are “exclusively used” by North Korea.
Was Sony Hit With a Second Hack?
Shane Harris
January 8, 2015
Or perhaps more accurately, a man, in his last years, especially but not exclusively consumed by affairs of the spirit.
The Stacks: John Coltrane’s Mighty Musical Quest
Nat Hentoff
October 18, 2014
However, these scholarships are also exclusively offered to Miss America contestants.
There She Is! Deport the Miss America Pageant.
Amy Zimmerman
October 6, 2014
It is certainly not correct to exclusively depict her as an entirely innocent victim.
Brecht's Mercenary Mother Courage Turns 75
Katie Baker
September 10, 2014
By the 1920s the rise of big hotels took the Catskills by storm, almost all of which were exclusively Jewish.
The Ghost Hotels of the Catskills
Brandon Presser
August 25, 2014

Historical Examples of exclusively

Spice may be ground in a mill kept, exclusively for that purpose.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
It is now carried on exclusively by the labor of free blacks.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
Rights and patents are owned and controlled by us exclusively.
The Mayflower, January, 1905
Various
From the egoistic point of view this experiment is exclusively negative.
The Sexual Question
August Forel
We have hitherto been exclusively occupied with those sources of 1.
Modern Painters Volume II (of V)
John Ruskin

British Dictionary definitions for exclusively

exclusive

adjective

excluding all else; rejecting other considerations, possibilities, events, etcan exclusive preoccupation with money

belonging to a particular individual or group and to no other; not sharedexclusive rights; an exclusive story

belonging to or catering for a privileged minority, esp a fashionable cliquean exclusive restaurant

(postpositive foll by to) limited (to); found only (in)this model is exclusive to Harrods

single; unique; onlythe exclusive means of transport on the island was the bicycle

separate and incompatiblemutually exclusive principles

(immediately postpositive) not including the numbers, dates, letters, etc, mentioned1980–84 exclusive

(postpositive foll by of) except (for); not taking account (of)exclusive of bonus payments, you will earn this amount

commerce (of a contract, agreement, etc) binding the parties to do business only with each other with respect to a class of goods or services

logic (of a disjunction) true if only one rather than both of its component propositions is trueCompare inclusive (def. 5)

noun

an exclusive story; a story reported in only one newspaper

Derived Formsexclusively, adverbexclusivity (ˌɛkskluːˈsɪvɪtɪ) or exclusiveness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for exclusively

exclusive

adj.

mid-15c., "so as to exclude," from Medieval Latin exclusivus, from exclus-, past participle stem of excludere (see exclude).

Of monopolies, rights, franchises, etc., from 1760s; of social circles, clubs, etc., "unwilling to admit outsiders," from 1822. Related: Exclusively; exclusiveness.