I would like to perform an ActiveRecord query that returns all records except those records that have certain ids. The ids I would like excluded are stored in an array. So: ids_to_exclude = [1,2,3] array_without_excluded_ids = Item. ??? I'm not sure how to complete the second line. Background: What I've already tried: I'm not sure background is necessary, but I've already tried various combinations of .find and .where. For example: array_without_excluded_ids = Item.find(:all, :conditions => { "id not IN (?)", ids_to_exclude }) array_without_excluded_ids = Item.where( "items.id not IN ?", ids_to_exclude) These fail. This tip might be on the right track, but I have not succeeded in adapting it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.