exception
/əkˈsɛpʃən/noun, verb
exception is spelled E-X-C-E-P-T-I-O-N: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, exception means “The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction by taking out something which would otherwise be included, as in a class, statement, rule” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of exception is exceptions.
How many letters and syllables are in exception?
| Letters | 9: E-X-C-E-P-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 22 times per million words; the 3,939th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is exception?
Exception appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce exception?
- /əkˈsɛpʃən/
- /ɪkˈsɛpʃən/
Exception has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-exception.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of exception
- exceptions plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- exceptioning participle, present
- exceptioned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does exception mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction by taking out something which would otherwise be included, as in a class, statement, rule.
the exception of a rule
- 2
That which is excluded from others; a person, thing, or case, specified as distinct, or not included.
That rule is usually true, but there are a few exceptions.
- 3
An objection, on legal grounds; also, as in conveyancing, a clause by which the grantor excepts or reserves something before the right is transferred.
- 4
An objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense.
- 5
An interruption in normal processing, typically caused by an error condition, that can be raised (“thrown”) by one part of the program and handled (“caught”) by another part.
null pointer exception
verb
- 1
informalrareTo throw an exception.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Exception in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Ausnahme , Ausnahmebedingung, Exception |
| Portuguese | exceção , exception |
| Spanish | excepción, salvedad , ofensa |
| French | exception |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.