exclude

American  

[ik-sklood] / ɪkˈsklud /

verb (used with object)

excluded, excluding

1. to shut or keep out; prevent the entrance of.

   Synonyms:

   preclude, omit, except, prohibit, bar

   Antonyms:

   include

2. to shut out from consideration, privilege, etc..

   Employees and their relatives were excluded from participation in the contest.

3. to expel and keep out; thrust out; eject.

   He was excluded from the club for infractions of the rules.

   Synonyms:

   reject

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exclude British  

/ ɪkˈskluːd /

verb

1. to keep out; prevent from entering

2. to reject or not consider; leave out

3. to expel forcibly; eject

4. to debar from school, either temporarily or permanently, as a form of punishment

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Other Word Forms

• excludable adjective
• excluder noun
• exclusory adjective
• preexclude verb (used with object)
• unexcluded adjective
• unexcluding adjective

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:

• preclude vs. exclude

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.

Example Sentences

Kentucky holds that prosecutors may not use peremptory strikes to exclude prospective jurors on the basis of race.

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2026

"We have not asked the French to exclude South Africa from the G7 Summit," a State Department official told the agency.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

“But value investors are wondering if it’s really that cheap if you need to exclude stock-based compensation from the calculation.”

From MarketWatch • Mar. 21, 2026

Core retail sales, which exclude car and auto-parts dealers and gas stations, were up 0.9% between December and January.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

In the toilet, where I used to take the papers, it was torturous to look for and exclude the unnecessary pages so that I could learn how he would finally outwit his latest adversary.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

Related Words

• ban
• bar
• block
• boycott
• eliminate
• ignore
• omit
• ostracize
• preclude
• prevent
• prohibit
• refuse
• reject
• remove
• rule out
• suspend