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

Members of the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis clashed with rallygoers, and the sides exchanged gunfire, killing five (four of whom were CWP members) and injuring 12 in what became known as the Greensboro Massacre. —Lorenzino Estrada, AZCentral.com, 3 Nov. 2025

Just a few months ago, Carlson himself likened Fuentes to David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan leader, and accused Fuentes of being part of a campaign to say the most bigoted things possible to make the rest of the right look bad. —Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2025

While driving activists between cities, Liuzzo was killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan after the march. —Dana Afana, Freep.com, 29 Oct. 2025

Congress had passed several of these laws during Reconstruction as the federal government fought the Ku Klux Klan. —Time, 29 Oct. 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