exempt

IPA/ɪɡˈzempt/
KK[ɪɡzˈɛmpt]IPA/ɪɡˈzempt/

exempt — verb

  • exemptpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • exempts3rd person singular
  • exempting-ing form
  • exemptedpast simple

1. to give a person or organisation official permission to avoid a duty, payment, o

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to give a person or organisation official permission to avoid a duty, payment, or obligation that others must normally fulfil.

Example

Students with a medical certificate are exempted from physical education classes at the university.

passive: be exempted from [something]

The new tax law exempts small businesses from paying government fees for the first year.

exempt + noun phrase + from + verb-ing

Common collocations
  • exempt someone from
  • exempted by law
  • exempt a person/organisation/entity
Synonyms
  • excuse

    less formal; can be personal rather than official (excuse a child from chores vs. exempt a business from tax)

  • release

    focuses on being freed from an obligation already in place; implies the obligation existed first

  • waive

    used of the requirement itself being removed rather than the person being freed (waive a fee, not *waive a person from a fee)

  • relieve

    often implies removing a burden that has already started; less common in official exemption contexts

Antonyms
  • obligate

    to require someone to do something

  • subject

    to make someone liable to a rule or requirement

Grammar Patterns

exempt + noun phrase + from + noun phrase/verb-ing

be exempted + from + noun phrase/verb-ing

Usage Note

Common in legal, tax, and regulatory contexts. The passive form (be exempted from) is especially frequent in official documents and announcements.

Common Mistakes

The teacher exempted him to do homework.
The teacher exempted him from doing homework.
The verb 'exempt' takes 'from', not a to-infinitive, to introduce what is avoided.
I exempted paying the fee.
I was exempted from paying the fee.
This verb is nearly always used in the passive or with an explicit object, not as a reflexive action.

exempt — adjective

exempt — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All five words involve removing an obligation, but they differ in formality, scope, and who or what is the focus. EXEMPT is the most official — it is used by governments, institutions, and legal bodies to grant a formal exception from a rule or payment (e.g., exempting a charity from tax). EXCUSE is less formal and can be personal: a parent excuses a child from dinner, but a government exempts a citizen from military service. RELEASE focuses on freedom from an obligation that already existed, often after the obligation was binding (released from a contract). WAIVE is the odd one out: the object is the requirement itself, not the person — you waive a fee, not *waive a person from a fee. ABSOLVE is the strongest, carrying moral or religious weight (absolve from guilt or blame). In everyday formal writing, exempt is the safest choice for legal, tax, or regulatory situations.

exempt ↗excuse ↗release ↗waive ↗absolve ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • permanently exempt
  • temporarily exempt
  • fully exempt
  • partially exempt
  • legally exempt

Phrases

  • exempt from tax
  • exempt from duty
  • exempt from liability
  • exempt status
  • tax-exempt

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Exempt entered English through Middle French, from Latin 'eximere' meaning 'to take out, remove'. The Latin word was formed by combining 'ex-' (out) and 'emere' (to take, to buy). The idea of 'taking someone out of' a general obligation developed into the modern sense of freeing someone from a duty or requirement that applies to others.