exception
- 01 B1 Intermediate
someone or something that does not follow a rule or fit into a general group.
an instance or case that does not conform to a general rule or category.
Simple“Most students passed the exam, but Mark was the only exception.”
In context“While the company usually promotes from within, they made a rare exception for a candidate with such extensive international experience.”
UsageCommonly used in the phrase 'with the exception of'.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
the act of not including someone or something in a group or rule.
the act of excepting or excluding something from a general statement or requirement.
Simple“The club has a strict dress code and they will not make an exception for anyone.”
In context“The policy applies to all staff members without exception, regardless of their seniority or length of service.”
UsageOften used with the verb 'make'.
Antonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
to feel annoyed or offended by something someone said or did.
an objection or a feeling of being offended; used almost exclusively in the idiom 'take exception to'.
Simple“I take exception to your comment about my work being lazy.”
In context“The local council took exception to the developer's claims that the project would have no impact on the surrounding environment.”
UsageUsed in the fixed phrase 'take exception to something'.
Synonyms - 04 C1 Advanced
a problem or error that happens while a computer program is running.
an interruption in normal processing caused by an error condition, which the software is designed to catch and handle.
Simple“The program crashed because it didn't know how to handle the exception.”
In context“The developer implemented a try-catch block to ensure that the application would not terminate when a null pointer exception occurred.”
UsageCommonly used with verbs like 'throw', 'catch', or 'handle'.
Usage important exception
“US tariffs on Colombian products rose from 10 percent to 12.5 percent in late July, with a few exceptions including coffee and oil.”
“Increases in the number of complaints were recorded across all categories with the exception of the condition of vehicles, where the number reduced from 98 to 75.”
From Middle English exception, excepcioun, from Anglo-Norman excepcioun, from Old French excepcion, from Latin exceptiō. Equivalent to except + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.