without exception

prep_phrase

"without-exception" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“without exception” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prep_phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - exceptionlessly; in their entirety.

Corpus desk

Index EN-without-exception · without exception · English

without exception · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 17 letters
  • VOW-7 7 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "W" 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.

Key facts for without exception
PropertyValue
Headwordwithout exception
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPrep_phrase
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “without exception” in English

without exceptionfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

without exception is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "exceptionlessly; in their entirety.".

without exception has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is without exception, spelled W-I-T-H-O-U-T- -E-X-C-E-P-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    exceptionlessly; in their entirety.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how without exception appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "Was everyone there?" / "Yes. Without exception".
  2. Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.

Synonyms

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "without exception"?
"without exception" is spelled W-I-T-H-O-U-T- -E-X-C-E-P-T-I-O-N.
What does "without exception" mean?
As a prep_phrase, "without exception" means: exceptionlessly; in their entirety.
What language does "without exception" come from?
"without exception" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list