How to Use except in a Sentence

except

1 of 2 preposition
  • The stores will be open daily except Sundays.
  • All parties except some on the far left and the far right have signed it.
    The Economist, 21 Nov. 2019
  • The answer is: Yes, no one reads it, except those who do.
    Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 28 Jan. 2020
  • No one knows Giesler too much, except those who played with him.
    Dave Hyde, Sun-Sentinel.com, 10 July 2018
  • McCoughtry doesn’t have a lot of firsts left — except one.
    Katherine Fominykh, baltimoresun.com, 11 July 2018
  • The Holy Spirit writes no more gospels except in our hearts.
    Barbara Mahany, chicagotribune.com, 2 Aug. 2019
  • All of that remains true of the new UltraFine 4K, except, of course, the size.
    Sam Byford, The Verge, 2 July 2019
  • Same scenario, except this time a small buck walked out, with the big boy on his heels.
    Pj Delhomme, Outdoor Life, 1 Jan. 2020
  • All of the award namesakes were on hand to present their trophies except Cousy, who is 90.
    Beth Harris, The Seattle Times, 12 Apr. 2019
  • Both markets are open daily, except Christmas, through the end of the year.
    Joseph Hernandez, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Dec. 2019
  • There’s no reason to throw him a fastball, none, except as a mix pitch.
    Emma Span, SI.com, 24 Oct. 2017
  • The virus has killed at least 427 people so far, with all the deaths except two having been in China.
    Robin Goist, cleveland, 4 Feb. 2020
  • Think of it like their form of body odor, except a little better smelling.
    Jo Yurcaba, Woman's Day, 2 Jan. 2020
  • No friends and family to meet you with food or socks except at the camp between loops.
    David G. Allan, CNN, 26 May 2018
  • There's nothing left in me except to go to my hotel room, take a shower and go to bed.
    Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Apr. 2018
  • Royals are done, except maybe a Wildcard, which looks like a long shot.
    Sam Mellinger, kansascity, 12 Sep. 2017
  • Think of it like a turducken, a cronut, or one of those Taco Bell tacos that has Doritos on it — except on the skin.
    Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, 31 Mar. 2020
  • The sky was gray, with a thin stripe of blue at the horizon in every direction—except at the spot where the Polarstern had just spent the night.
    Shannon Hall, Science | AAAS, 13 Nov. 2019
  • But the issue with this can be that often, things don't sell and you're left with the same amount of clothes except some are now in a laundry bag.
    Alyssa Hardy, Teen Vogue, 11 Jan. 2019
  • Deer are more likely to eat poinciana but may not do so except in deep drought.
    Calvin Finch, San Antonio Express-News, 18 May 2018
  • Every day has the vague outlines of training camp, except there are games, too.
    Scott Cacciola, New York Times, 13 Nov. 2019
  • This was fine, except there was nothing to catch the meds, toothpaste caps, tweezers, car keys and anything else that dropped in the sink.
    Chris Erskine, latimes.com, 8 June 2018
  • All work except landscaping is expected to be finished by the end of the month.
    Ramona Sentinel, 15 Sep. 2017
  • In the jail where my father lived, everyone except the guards wore cheap slip-ons with thin soles.
    Joshua Hunt, The New Republic, 18 Sep. 2019
  • The same goes for the film’s women, Earl’s family, who don’t have much to do except be mad at him or forgive him.
    Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, 14 Dec. 2018
  • So far so good, except the room could have been anybody’s home office.
    Marni Jameson, OrlandoSentinel.com, 14 Mar. 2018
  • So far so good, except the room could have been anybody's home office.
    Contributing Writer, NOLA.com, 12 Mar. 2018
  • No one in high school knew except my best friend Starr and my history teacher.
    Jeneé Osterheldt, kansascity, 10 July 2018
  • Harper wanted to get in on the action and held up her hand for a high five, except David initially missed it.
    Nicole Saunders, Harper's BAZAAR, 28 June 2019
  • Officials have not yet released the names of the boys, but said all were minors except the driver who was 18.
    Jasmine Aguilera, Time, 21 Jan. 2020
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except

2 of 2 verb
  • Children were excepted from the study.
  • I must except to your remark that there are no great novelists currently living.
  • By-the-glass wines, sparklers excepted, are kegged, and there are a dozen of those (each at $12 per glass).
    Phil Vettel, chicagotribune.com, 5 Sep. 2019
  • Their pitching last year was the worst in the league, excepting Detroit.
    Tom Verducci, SI.com, 14 Dec. 2017
  • This excepts the sort where staffers in toques prepare crab omelets to order and the champagne flows freely.
    Amy Drew Thompson, orlandosentinel.com, 2 Oct. 2019
  • Now there was no one close to her, excepting this image of herself.
    Mathias Énard, Harper's Magazine, 11 Oct. 2023
  • The first man to test-fire it, excepting ArmaLite employees, was John Wayne.
    Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 14 Aug. 2023
  • Along with Scott taking over at left tackle, third-year guard Forrest Lamp is excepted to play off the bench against the Colts.
    Jeff Miller, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2019
  • There’s a trade freeze intact now through 8 a.m. Thursday, excepting trades made with the Golden Knights.
    Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press, 18 June 2017
  • The teams exchanged punts the remainder of the half, excepting one notable carry by Campbell.
    Jack Marrion, Houston Chronicle, 2 Dec. 2019
  • Diplomats, however, had been excepted and some have been trying to bend the rules to bring in their families.
    Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2020
  • Since the late Eighties, he’s done plus-or-minus a hundred shows a year, pandemic excepted.
    Michaelangelo Matos, Rolling Stone, 1 June 2023
  • Vesterålen seems to be excepted from reality—a lush mirage in a landscape that should be cold and barren.
    Mallory Farrugia, Vogue, 14 Nov. 2019
  • The news may be full of Trump indictments, extreme weather and war, but the shows stop for almost no crisis (pandemics excepted).
    Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2023
  • Google gets top marks for the exterior of the Pixel Slate (keyboard excepted), but the interior is where things start to get messy.
    Dieter Bohn, The Verge, 27 Nov. 2018
  • Humboldt County had the second highest homicide rate of any county in the state in 2018, excepting Kern County.
    Robert Peach, The Mercury News, 14 July 2019
  • As is usually the case with historic homes, and excepting a small gallery space on the second floor, explanatory text and labels are not used.
    Laura Jacobs, WSJ, 2 July 2018
  • Out in the main hall, bussers are posted to clear tables, while patrons order from kiosks at each concept (excepting the bakery and Tia Loca).
    Erin Podolsky, Detroit Free Press, 28 Apr. 2018
  • But this will be the first time viewers will be able to stream live programming from PBS through a digital service, excepting some anomalies over the years like the now-defunct Aero service and the like.
    Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, 29 July 2019
  • This is a colossal achievement that nobody excepted from a group that started when JFK was president.
    Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 20 Oct. 2023
  • Or the lack of flowers or anything fresh, excepting an enormous bowl of seemingly eternal Granny Smith Apples on the central table.
    Beth Segal, cleveland.com, 14 July 2017
  • No one has played more basketball than the Warriors over the past four seasons, excepting the seemingly ageless LeBron James.
    Al Saracevic, SFChronicle.com, 23 May 2018
  • Some plans have not been updated since 2015, so the actual number of furloughed and excepted employees may vary.
    Darla Cameron, Washington Post, 20 Jan. 2018
  • In the six seasons preceding this one, the Rangers finished no fewer than 23 games out of first place, pandemic season excepted, while the Dodgers made the playoffs every year and appeared in the World Series three times.
    Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2023
  • The skies stayed almost entirely dry, excepting the sprinkles that fell at 12:20 p.m. in downtown Detroit and lasted only a few minutes.
    Kayla Daugherty, Detroit Free Press, 15 Oct. 2017
  • Alienated from his progeny, who don’t attend his birthday party (the leech-like Connor, played by Alan Ruck, excepted), Logan is out of sorts.
    Kate Aurthur, Variety, 17 Mar. 2023
  • And all of the attendees, possibly excepting the guy from DSA, are united by their desire to get a photo of (or long-distance selfie with) Musk, who is mobbed at the stage after the presentation.
    Kevin Lincoln, The Verge, 18 May 2018
  • In other words, biology (possibly excepting ourselves) seems to take great care not to overthink the problem of survival.
    Quanta Magazine, 26 Jan. 2017
  • Not until 1991, in Benin and then Zambia, did the region see peaceful ejections of incumbent rulers at the ballot box (the long-democratic island of Mauritius excepted).
    The Economist, 20 July 2017
  • Last year excepted the Giants are generally in the October mix.
    Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 15 Jan. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'except.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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