exclude
Americanverb (used with object)
-
excludes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
excluded,
past participle, past
-
excluding
present participle
-
to shut or keep out; prevent the entrance of.
- Antonyms:
- include
-
to shut out from consideration, privilege, etc..
Employees and their relatives were excluded from participation in the contest.
-
to expel and keep out; thrust out; eject.
He was excluded from the club for infractions of the rules.
- Synonyms:
- reject
verb
-
to keep out; prevent from entering
-
to reject or not consider; leave out
-
to expel forcibly; eject
-
to debar from school, either temporarily or permanently, as a form of punishment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
excludernoun
-
preexcludeverb (used with object)
-
excludableadjective
-
exclusoryadjective
-
unexcludedadjective
-
unexcludingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
excludesimple
-
excludessimple
-
have excludedperfect
-
has excludedperfect
-
am excludingprogressive
-
are excludingprogressive
-
is excludingprogressive
-
have been excludingperfect progressive
-
has been excludingperfect progressive
Past
-
excludedsimple
-
had excludedperfect
-
was excludingprogressive
-
were excludingprogressive
-
had been excludingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exclude
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin exclūdere “to shut out, cut off,” from ex- ex- 1 + -clūdere, combining form of claudere “to shut, close”
Compare meaning
How does exclude compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Exclude means to leave out — like when the cool kids won't let you in on their game of four-square or the pizza guy leaves your neighborhood out from his delivery zone. Exclude comes to us from the Latin word excludere, which means "to shut." So essentially, when you exclude someone you slam the door in their face one way or another: You won't let them into the party, you leave them off the invite list, or refuse to include them in the conversation once they arrive. Needless to say, excluding others is not very nice.
Vocabulary lists containing exclude
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Case Closed: Clud, Clus
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #1
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
A few months later, the small state agency that maintains the official list of tribal contacts unveiled a proposal that some non-recognized tribes argued would effectively exclude them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
The British Museum said it is not financially feasible to set up an online platform for residents and it may exclude people, as well as the codes being vulnerable to be shared further.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
"Our burned-area estimates are conservative for two reasons. First, we exclude individual burn scars smaller than 6.25 hectares... Second, we prioritise avoiding false detections," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
But it was increases elsewhere that were most concerning to investors since the Fed tends to focus on so-called core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy categories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
How could it exclude every other smell, in open country on a south wind?
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
The forecast excludes the $20 billion raised through an equity offering earlier this year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
The offer excludes any distribution for the six months through December up to A$0.05 a share, making it effectively worth A$5.40 a share.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Core retail sales, excludes autos and fuel, were up 1.1% between July and August after a fall of 0.7% a month prior.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
That comparison excludes other investing activities and is not a complete measure of its financing needs.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
It thus systematically excludes from consideration the very feature which makes scientific arguments distinctive: their appeal to superior evidence.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
The last time business investment was that strong was 13 years ago, if the pandemic era is excluded.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
Real property, pensions and retirement accounts would be excluded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
The analysis excluded duplicate claims, five states that reported insufficient data to accurately calculate weekly therapy hours, and a small share of patient weeks with implausibly high hours.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Fund managers worldwide keep a close eye on what countries are included or excluded in MSCI's indexes as that can trigger adjustments to their portfolios.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
By merest chance the most dangerous creatures had been excluded.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
The number of people without a job for at least six months has doubled in the past few years to a 10-year high, excluding the pandemic, of nearly 2 million, Labor Department data show.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
If you have a 30-year mortgage at 4.5%, your monthly payment would be around $3,500, excluding property taxes and maintenance, or $5,300 a month if you have a 15-year mortgage at the same rate.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 1.9 million barrels to 410.6 million barrels in the week ended Oct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
The Justice Department sought to address the 9th Circuit ruling through a revised delegation of authority expressly excluding certain powers reserved for a U.S. attorney.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
She rolled her eyes at her new friends, and they collected their trays of cornflakes and toast and sat together, an instant gang, excluding everyone else in order to gossip about them.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
