precluded
Americanadjective
-
prevented or made impossible; disallowed or ruled out.
A company can "fairly dismiss" an employee without giving a reason, so long as the position does not fall into a precluded category under the law.
-
(of a person) excluded or debarred; shut out.
Literature by people of other races and cultures allows us to listen to these previously precluded voices of difference.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of precluded
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.
Reading the Westfall Act with close “attention to its text,” he concluded, shows that Congress has not precluded laws like Maine’s.
From Slate ● Apr. 15, 2026
The secrecy precluded a medal of honor without a waiver from Congress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
I could have claimed Austrian retirement on my 65th birthday in 2023, but concerns about the Windfall Elimination Provision interfering with my Social Security benefits precluded this.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 4, 2025
Even though the government did not clarify whether Vidovic had served his time, it said a criminal sentence precluded him from holding public office.
From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025
It occurred to me that the business of surviving precluded a great many things, exploring and falling in love not least among them.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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.
