Synonym Usage
Exemption, immunity, impunity imply special privilege or freedom from imposed requirements. Exemption implies release or privileged freedom from some duty, tax, etc.: exemption from military service. Immunity implies freedom from a penalty or from some liability, especially one that is disagreeable or threatening: immunity from disease. Impunity (limited mainly to the fixed expression with impunity ) primarily suggests freedom from punishment: The police force was so inadequate that crimes could be committed with impunity.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of exemption
First recorded in 1350–1400; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin exemptiōn- (stem of exemptiō ) “removal.” See exempt, -ion
Explanation
When you get an exemption, you don't have to do something. In the sixties, some people got exemptions from military service during the Vietnam War. We don't often think of being left out as a good thing, but when you use the word exemption, you mean that someone has been excluded in a positive way. Children are exemptions, or deductions, on tax forms; the more children you have the less taxes you pay. Some non-profits are tax-exempt; their exemption means they pay no taxes at all. Exemptions also spare people from fighting in wars and doing some jobs. An exemption gets you off the hook.
Vocabulary lists containing exemption
Tax Day Words
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Speak
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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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.
The exemption could boost housing supply at the margin, though local zoning and permitting requirements will still apply.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
Under the CAZ scheme, the daily charge for vehicles that do not meet emission standards is £8 for cars, vans and taxis or £50 for HGVs and coaches, unless a valid exemption is in place.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
Many enrollees already work or will qualify for an exemption; the able-bodied who don’t are a minority.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
“Later that $500,000 may rise back to $1 million or more but you only used up $500,000 of your estate tax exemption to gift it to your trust.”
From Barron's • May 16, 2026
“The magistrate told us that exemption didn’t apply to us.”
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
