make an exception

Idioms  

1. Exempt someone or something from a general rule or practice, as in Because it's your birthday, I'll make an exception and let you stay up as late as you want. This expression was first recorded about 1391.

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Example Sentences

From time to time I’ll make an exception and settle into a relative page-turner: nothing with cliffhangers or lots of hand-to-hand combat, mind you, but with a brisker narrative pace.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

“And if they make an exception without a rationale, that’s not flexibility. That’s a lack of structure or a growth strategy.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

But we’ll make an exception for the shoe story, a genuine delight in an otherwise gloomy news world.

From Slate • Mar. 14, 2026

Retiree Werner Strub agreed that "the conditions are so unusual that you can make an exception, because hospitals are full of people with fractures."

From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026

He was a generally pessimistic person, but he seemed to make an exception for Katherines: he always felt they would come back to him.

From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green