Precludes Meaning: Definition, Examples and How to Use It

If you have ever read a sentence like “His injury precludes him from playing” and wondered what exactly precludes is doing there, the answer is simple: precludes is the third-person singular present tense of the verb preclude, a formal word meaning to prevent something from happening or to make it impossible. The injury does not merely discourage him from playing; it rules playing out altogether. That sense of something being ruled out in advance is what separates preclude from its plainer cousin prevent.

What does precludes mean?

Merriam-Webster defines preclude as “to keep from happening by taking action in advance”, and Collins gives two senses: if something precludes an event or action, it prevents the event or action from happening; if something precludes you from doing something, it prevents you from doing it. Both senses are marked formal, which is why you meet preclude far more often in legal documents, academic writing and serious journalism than in everyday conversation.

The word comes from Latin praeclūdere, “to shut off” — prae- (before) + claudere (to close). The image is useful: something is closed off before you can get to it. A locked door precludes entry; a prior commitment precludes attendance. In both cases the barrier comes first, and the excluded thing never gets the chance to happen.

Pattern	Structure	Example
Preclude an event	preclude + noun / -ing	The weather precludes travel.
Preclude someone from something	preclude + person + from + -ing	Her injury precludes her from playing.
Preclude a possibility	preclude + noun phrase	This does not preclude the possibility of a settlement.

Pronunciation and word forms

The base verb preclude is pronounced UK /prɪˈkluːd/ and US /prɪˈkluːd/, with the stress on the second syllable: pri-KLOOD. Add the third-person -s and you get precludes, pronounced /prɪˈkluːdz/ in both varieties — the s sounds like a z after the voiced d. Dictionary.com records the American form of the base verb as /prɪˈklud/ and the British as /prɪˈkluːd/, a small vowel-length difference that does not change the word.

Preclude is a regular verb, and its full set of forms is:

• Base form: preclude — These rules preclude exceptions. (with plural subjects)
• Third-person singular present: precludes — This rule precludes exceptions.
• Present participle: precluding — …precluding any chance of a deal.
• Past simple and past participle: precluded — The injury precluded him from competing.

The related noun is preclusion (the act of precluding), and the adjective is preclusive. There is no noun “preclude” and no verb “preclusion” — keep the parts of speech straight and the word behaves itself.

The two sentence patterns in detail

1. Preclude + noun or -ing form

In the first pattern, the subject is a thing or situation, and what follows is the event that is ruled out. This is the pattern of official and academic prose: a design precludes a use, a law precludes a term of office, evidence precludes a conviction.

His age precludes too much travel.

The design of the study precluded any long-term analysis.

The lack of funding precludes any expansion this year.

2. Preclude + someone + from + -ing

In the second pattern, a person is the one excluded, and from is essential. “Her injury precludes her from playing” is correct; “her injury precludes her playing” is not idiomatic, and “her injury precludes her to play” is simply wrong. The from + -ing construction is the one to memorise, because it is also the one learners most often get wrong.

His contract precludes him from working for a rival firm.

The rules preclude her from entering the competition.

Modesty precludes me from accepting the honour.

A useful test: if you can replace preclude with rule out and the sentence still works, the pattern is right. “His contract rules him out from working for a rival” is clumsy, but “his contract rules out working for a rival” works — and so does “his contract precludes him from working for a rival”.

Preclude vs. prevent, exclude and rule out

Prevent is the everyday word and the closest synonym. The difference is one of register and nuance. Prevent covers any stopping, including physical intervention: a fence prevents sheep from straying. Preclude is formal and suggests a prior condition that makes something impossible or out of the question, often a rule, a fact or a logical consequence rather than a physical barrier. You would say a seatbelt prevents injury, but a constitutional amendment precludes a third term.

Exclude is about leaving something or someone out of a group or set: excluded from the list, excluded from the club. Preclude is about events and possibilities: it rules out a happening, not just membership. A rule can both exclude you from a competition and preclude you from entering it — the first describes your status, the second describes the event that cannot happen.

Rule out is the plain-English equivalent of preclude and the best substitute in informal writing. If a sentence sounds stiff with preclude, try rule out: “This doesn’t rule out a settlement” says exactly what “This does not preclude the possibility of a settlement” says, in half the words.

Correct vs. incorrect

Correct	Incorrect	Why
This precludes travel.	This precludes to travel.	Preclude takes a noun or -ing form, never a to-infinitive.
It precludes her from playing.	It precludes her playing.	With a person as object, from + -ing is required.
The rule precludes exceptions.	The rule preclude exceptions.	With a singular subject (the rule), the verb needs -s: precludes.
His injury precluded him from competing.	His injury precluded him to compete.	Past tense or not, the pattern is still from + -ing.

Common mistakes and confusions

Using preclude as a noun. “The preclude of the event” is wrong. The noun is preclusion: “the preclusion of any misunderstanding”. In practice, most writers avoid preclusion altogether and rephrase with the verb.

Dropping from. “The injury precludes him playing” is the single most common error with this word. English requires from here, just as it does with prevent: “prevent him from playing”, “preclude him from playing”. If you remember the pair, you will remember the from.

Using it informally when a simpler word would do. Because preclude is formal, it can sound pompous in casual writing. “Rain precluded our picnic” is grammatically fine but stylistically heavy; “Rain ruined our picnic” or “Rain stopped us having our picnic” is more natural. Reserve preclude for writing where formality is expected — reports, essays, contracts, serious journalism.

Confusing preclude with include. The resemblance is a trap: include means to contain or take in, while preclude means to shut out in advance. They are near-opposites, not relatives. A helpful memory aid is the Latin root: pre- (before) + cludere (to close) — the door was closed before you could enter.

Frequently asked questions

Is precludes a verb or a noun?

A verb — specifically, the third-person singular present tense of preclude. It is used with he, she, it and singular nouns: “This precludes any doubt”, “The rule precludes exceptions”. The noun form is preclusion.

What is the difference between preclude and prevent?

Prevent is the general, everyday word for stopping something. Preclude is formal and implies that a prior fact, rule or condition makes something impossible or out of the question. In most casual sentences, prevent is the better choice.

Does preclude always need “from”?

Only in the person pattern: “preclude someone from doing something”. When the object is an event or possibility rather than a person, no from appears: “This precludes a settlement”, “The weather precludes travel”.

Can preclude be used in the passive?

Yes, and often is: “He was precluded from taking part”, “The possibility was precluded by the new rules”. The passive is common in legal and official writing, where the focus is on what was ruled out rather than on who ruled it out.

Takeaway

Precludes is the he/she/it form of preclude, a formal verb meaning to rule something out in advance. Learn its two patterns — preclude + noun and preclude + someone + from + -ing — and never let a to-infinitive near it. Use it where formality fits, reach for prevent or rule out everywhere else, and remember the closed door in its Latin root: something precluded is something that never got the chance to happen.