Ku Klux Klan

noun

ˈkü-ˈkləks-ˈklan 

also ˈkyü-

or ˈklü-

1

: a violent secret fraternal society founded in 1915 in Georgia to maintain white Protestant cultural and political power

also : any one of more than 20 hate (see hate entry 1 sense 1c) groups that associate themselves with the Ku Klux Klan

2

: a violent post-Civil War secret society founded in Tennessee in 1866 to upend the Black political and social power that was being established during Reconstruction

Note: This Ku Klux Klan had largely dissolved by the end of the 1870s.

Examples of Ku Klux Klan in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the nineteen-twenties, the problem of anarchist violence could be understood as belonging to a different category than the partisan arguments between Democrats and Republicans—as could later acts of terror perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan and the Weather Underground. —Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025

His opposition to Republican Reconstruction efforts went beyond the pages of his newspaper, however, as Frolich was reported to be the head of the Searcy Ku Klux Klan. —Arkansas Online, 29 Nov. 2025

Another image hanging on a bicycle road sign depicted a fist holding a smoking pistol to the head of someone in a Ku Klux Klan hood as blood squirts out of the figure's head. —Peter D'abrosca, FOXNews.com, 25 Nov. 2025

One of the first contributors was the Ku Klux Klan, which promised $1,000. —Richard Selcer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1867, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for Ku Klux Klan

• businessman
• canavan
• caravan
• constantan
• dragoman
• fisherman
• handyman
• harmattan
• journeyman
• marianne
• middleman
• minivan