mutually exclusive
18
6.4
- adjective
- /ˈmjuːtʃuəli ɪkˈskluːsɪv/
:
incompatible
- Cases were classified into three mutually exclusive categories according to place of onset and relationship to health care.
- mutually exclusive categories
- mutually exclusive groups
- mutually exclusive possibilities
Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
- Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
- So I've had these two mutually exclusive ideas in my head, and I now realize that it's possible to meld them into a single theory.
- Like these are not mutually exclusive things.
- So some people say, well, maybe actually those two events not mutually exclusive, maybe this particle in some mysterious way goes through the bustlets at the same time.
- The often building and developing and, and, and progress are mutually exclusive pursuits to creating a high quality of life.
Examples
-
The professional and the personal should be mutually exclusive.
-
Reality and fantasy are mutually exclusive.
-
Since when is helping people and telling the truth mutually exclusive?
-
The two lists were mutually exclusive, so a child could be put on only one list.
Academic text (1998) -
At the same time, these two types of representation are not mutually exclusive.
Academic text (1998) -
Entrepreneurship is not mutually exclusive with employment.
-
This all ties into his two enormous but mutually exclusive ambitions.
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For the moment I don't believe the two approaches have to be mutually exclusive.
Fiction book (1997) -
Of course, these types are not mutually exclusive, and hybrids abound.
Academic text (1998) -
Science and faith can be seen as mutually exclusive, but many people find a way to integrate both.
Synonyms
72
6.1
Showing ideas or statements that do not agree and cannot both be true
41
6.2
Not able to work or be used together without causing a problem
9
7.9
Two statements that cannot both be true but can both be false
7
4.2
Having ideas, facts, or feelings that do not agree with each other
1
8.1
Having no members in common
Antonyms
How Exclusive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'not able to exist or be true at the same time' is directly compositional from 'mutually' (reciprocally, each to the other) and 'exclusive' (not allowing coexistence). This reciprocal + exclusion logic is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Mutually exclusive combines mutually ('each other') and exclusive ('not allowing others'). Imagine two people trying to sit in one small chair: if one sits, the other cannot, so the phrase means 'not able to happen or be true at the same time'.