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exclusive

adjective · noun

Simple meaning

Special or high-quality, available only to a select group of people

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihkskloosiv

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪkskˈlusɪv

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. literally

    Excluding items or members that do not meet certain conditions.

  2. figuratively

    Referring to a membership organisation, service or product: of high quality and/or renown, for superior members only.

  3. A snobbish usage, suggesting that members who do not meet requirements, which may be financial, of social status, religion, skin colour etc., are excluded.

  4. of two people in a romantic or sexual relationship

    Having a romantic or sexual relationship with one another, to the exclusion of others.

  5. Exclusionary.

  6. Whole, undivided, entire.

noun

  1. A member of a group who excludes others from their society.

  2. Information (or an artefact) that is granted or obtained exclusively.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (literally) Excluding items or members that do not meet certain conditions.

Used this way, exclusive is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

mutually exclusiveexclusive rightexclusive jurisdictionexclusive controlexclusive possessionexclusive propertyexclusive powerexclusive privilege

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • exclusivelyadverbDerived adverb

    Without any others being included or involved.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • exclusive rightnounCompound term

    A right reserved exclusively by a particular person or group (especially a hereditary or official right).

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: member of a group who excludes others from their society

insideInformal

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.