civil rights
plural noun
: rights that citizens are guaranteed by their government through legislation or other government action to ensure equal opportunities (as for employment, education, housing, or voting) and equal protection under the law regardless of personal characteristics such as race, religion, or sex
especially
: the rights of personal liberty guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution and by acts of Congress
Note: The 13th Amendment (ratified 1865) abolished slavery and the 14th Amendment (ratified 1868) granted citizenship and equal rights to all people born or naturalized in the U.S., including formerly enslaved people and African Americans generally. The 15th Amendment (ratified 1870) guaranteed the right to vote regardless of color or former enslavement.
compare civil liberty see also civil rights movementExamples of civil rights in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The marchers say the fight for civil rights hasn’t changed, either.
—
Sarah Clifton, USA Today, 16 May 2026
Speakers said the spot was once the temple of the confederacy and became holy ground of the civil rights movement.
—Kim Chandler, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2026
Yet these narrower successors still impose new compliance burdens beyond those imposed by existing civil rights and consumer protection law.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 15 May 2026
Post-Reconstruction America—especially the South—was actively trying to claw back civil rights gains from Black Americans.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 May 2026
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Sarah Clifton, USA Today, 16 May 2026
Speakers said the spot was once the temple of the confederacy and became holy ground of the civil rights movement.
—Kim Chandler, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2026
Yet these narrower successors still impose new compliance burdens beyond those imposed by existing civil rights and consumer protection law.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 15 May 2026
Post-Reconstruction America—especially the South—was actively trying to claw back civil rights gains from Black Americans.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for civil rights
Cite this Entry
“Civil rights.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/civil%20rights. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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