state of exception
"state-of-exception" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“state of exception” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 18
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A condition in which ordinary laws or norms have been suspended by a political authority.
Corpus desk
Index EN-state-of-exception · state of exception · English
state of exception · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 18 letters
- VOW-7 7 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | state of exception |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 18 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “state of exception” in English
Rare enough to double-check
state of exception is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A condition in which ordinary laws or norms have been suspended by a political authority.".
state of exception doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Calque of German Ausnahmezustand, primarily as used by the German jurist and philosopher Carl Schmitt; popularised in English by the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben in the 1990s–2000s. The correct English form is state of exception, spelled S-T-A-T-E- -O-F- -E-X-C-E-P-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A condition in which ordinary laws or norms have been suspended by a political authority.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how state of exception appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Out of such rhetoric emerged an American state of exception, and with it, the disturbing outlines of inquisitorial behavior.
Regardless of how we conceive of them, rights are just abstract entitlements that, given a state of exception, can be suspended at will by the very same states that profess a belief in the universality and inalienability of these rights!
Etymology
Calque of German Ausnahmezustand, primarily as used by the German jurist and philosopher Carl Schmitt; popularised in English by the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben in the 1990s–2000s.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.