exclude
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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
- 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:
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.
Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration would exclude generic drugs from the pharmaceutical tariffs after months of internal debate—a detail confirmed by the announcement on Thursday.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 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
So, if you wanted to exclude Netflix, you’d have to know all the domains it accesses to get it to work properly, which isn’t always practical.
From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026
We sought review in the Alabama Supreme Court and won a new trial based on the trial judge's refusal to exclude people from jury service who were biased and could not be impartial.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
