precluded

American  

[pri-kloo-did] / prɪˈklu dɪd /

adjective

1. 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.

2. (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.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of preclude.

Other Word Forms

• unprecluded adjective

Etymology

Origin of precluded

preclude ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

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

Rather than moving vertically downward, one may move horizontally outward toward a point of sufficient detachment where a modicum of creature comforts are not necessarily precluded.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole