Meaning & use
mutually exclusive
Describing two events, options, or categories that cannot both be true or exist at the same time.
See it in a sentence
Being a full-time student and a full-time employee are nearly mutually exclusive here.
In the survey, the categories were designed to be mutually exclusive so no answer overlapped.
A note on using this word
The term is common in logic, statistics, and everyday reasoning about choices or possibilities that rule each other out.
Words with a similar meaning
incompatible
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
compatible
Make it your own
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