Many of us (rightfully so!) are thinking about how to be inclusive these days. But “inclusive” can be a fluffy word. One way to BE something is to look at what the opposite is and make sure you are NOT doing that (a concept similar to Inversion).
I found 35 words that are the opposite of inclusive. These are all an antonym of inclusive you might want to know about and avoid.
What is the opposite of inclusive?
Since “inclusive” is a good word, the opposite of it (aka antonym) is usually not so great (even bad). Here are 25 words that are an “inclusive” antonym.
If you use these “inclusive” antonyms, they might be viewed negatively.
- Adversarial — when people oppose or disagree with each other
- Asocial — when people are not interested in forming connections or social groups
- Censorious — being severely critical of other people
- Cliquish — forming exclusive groups that are not welcoming to outsiders
- Closed-minded — unwilling to consider different ideas and opinion, unlike your own
- Discriminative — showing unjust or prejudice in the treatment of different categories of people, based on race, sex, age, disability, and more
- Elitist — viewing people as inferior because they lack power, wealth, or status
- Exclusionary — excluding a person or group of people based on race, sex, age, disability, and more
- Exclusive — excluding people from participating in certain activities because of their race, sex, age, disability, or other differences
- Homogeneous — the same or a similar kind or nature
- Incomplete — not full or finished
- Inequitable — unjust or not equal
- Inflexible — unwilling to change or compromise
- Isolationist — wanting to remain apart from the affairs or interests of other groups
- Limited — being restricted, confined, or narrow
- Narrow — being limited to small areas of interests, activities, or thoughts
- Oppressive — unfair or cruel
- Prejudiced — showing dislike or bias against people who are not the same as you
- Racist — prejudiced against people based on their racial or ethnic group (typically one that is a minority or marginalized)
- Restrictive — being limited or preventing growth
- Selective — intentionally choosing certain things but not others, including groups of people
- Singular — referring to one type of person or thing
- Slanted — presenting or viewing information from one angle, especially in a biased or unfair way.
- Tribalistic — only showing loyalty to one’s own tribe or social group.
- Undemocratic — when a system or process is controlled or made by one person or a small group, instead of by all of the people involved
What is an antonym for the word “diversity”?
The words “diversity” and “inclusion” tend to go hand in hand, so let’s take a quick look at a diversity antonym (or ten)…
- Uniformity — the quality or state of being uniform
- Sameness — lack of variety
- Indistinguishability — not able to be identified as different or distinct
- Similarity — the state or fact of being similar
- Interchangeability — the fact that things can be exchanged, especially without affecting the way something works
- Usualness — the quality or state of being usual
- Stagnation — the state of not flowing or moving. Lack of activity, growth, or development
- Similitude — the quality or state of being similar to something
- Conformity — similarity in form or type
- Monotony — lack of variety and interest; tedious repetition and routine
While I was researching the antonym for inclusive and the opposite of ‘diverse’, I did come across the more positive synonyms for inclusive – so what is another word for “inclusive”? My favourites are, “whole” and “without exception”.
Why I wrote this?
Our mission here at Ongig is to transform your job descriptions to attract top-tier and diverse talent. Our Text Analyzer software analyzes every word of your job descriptions to ensure they are inclusive to everyone, helping you remove any diversity antonyms!
Shout-outs
- What is the opposite of inclusive? (by WordHippo)
- Collins Dictionary
- Inclusive antonyms. What is the opposite word for Inclusive? (by Thesaurus Plus)
- Cambridge Dictionary
- Inclusive (by Merriam-Webster)
- Oxford Languages Dictionary
