Meaning & use
exclusive
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Kept for the use of one person or a small group, with others not allowed to share it.
Grammar: Often followed by to: rights exclusive to the owner.
Patterns
- exclusive to someone
- exclusive rights/use
The company has exclusive rights to sell the product in Canada.
This lounge is exclusive to first-class passengers.
The two shops signed an exclusive agreement.
adjectivecomparable
High in price or status, and so open only to wealthy or privileged people.
Grammar: Describes clubs, hotels, schools and neighborhoods that are hard to join or afford.
Patterns
- an exclusive club/resort/neighborhood
They stayed at an exclusive resort that cost a fortune per night.
He belongs to one of the most exclusive clubs in the city.
The family lives in an exclusive part of town.
adjectivenot comparable
Not including or allowing anything else, so that only one thing counts.
Grammar: Usually follows a noun or comes in mutually exclusive.
Patterns
- mutually exclusive
- exclusive of something
Staying at home and traveling abroad are mutually exclusive choices.
The price is exclusive of tax.
She has an exclusive focus on her studies this year.
nouncountablebusiness
A news story or item that one paper, channel or website publishes before or without any rival.
Grammar: Used in journalism: the paper ran an exclusive.
Patterns
- an exclusive on something
The magazine landed an exclusive on the star's wedding.
Reporters chased the exclusive for weeks.
The channel promised viewers an exclusive interview.
Word forms
| comparative | more exclusive |
|---|---|
| superlative | most exclusive |
| plural noun | exclusives |
Common combinations
- exclusive interview
- The singer gave an exclusive interview to the local radio station.
- exclusive rights
- The publisher holds exclusive rights to the author's work.
- mutually exclusive
- Speed and perfect accuracy are often mutually exclusive.
- exclusive club
- Only a handful of people are allowed into the exclusive club.
- exclusive offer
- Members receive an exclusive offer on tickets.
Synonyms and how they differ
- select
- Select suggests carefully chosen and small in number, and sounds more positive than exclusive, which may hint at snobbery.
- upscale
- Upscale is mainly American and describes high quality and price without the idea of keeping people out.
- sole
- Sole means only one and is used for rights or owners, but it does not carry exclusive's sense of keeping others away.
- private
- Private means for particular people and not open to the public, but it does not imply prestige or high cost.
Opposites
Word family
- exclusively adverb
- only, and for no one or nothing else
- exclusivity noun
- the quality of being limited to a select few
- exclude verb
- to keep out or leave out
- exclusion noun
- the act of leaving someone or something out
- exclusiveness noun
- the state of being closed to others
Commonly confused: exclusive or exclusionary?
exclusive vs exclusionary
Exclusionary describes policies or attitudes that deliberately shut people out, while exclusive often just means limited or high-end.
Practice
The paper secured an ___ interview with the minister, so no other outlet had it.
Choose one answer.
Exclusive means only that outlet had the interview. Inclusive is the opposite idea of covering all, and excessive and expensive describe amount and price, not who has access.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “exclusive”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.