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 League of United and Latin American Citizens, the nation's largest and oldest Latino civil rights group, is in Minneapolis Tuesday with heavy hearts and clear purpose amid Operation Metro Surge.
—
Reg Chapman, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
All of these icons wrote and speculated on civil rights and the idea of Blackness resisting the world at large.
—Literary Hub, 28 Jan. 2026
Penny has reported on everything from national civil rights issues to hog farming in Illinois, Georgia, Texas and now Arkansas.
—Penny Weaver, Arkansas Online, 28 Jan. 2026
The National Immigration Law Center fights in courts and legislatures to protect low-income immigrants, ensuring that civil rights don’t disappear simply because of where someone was born.
—Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for civil rights
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Reg Chapman, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
All of these icons wrote and speculated on civil rights and the idea of Blackness resisting the world at large.
—Literary Hub, 28 Jan. 2026
Penny has reported on everything from national civil rights issues to hog farming in Illinois, Georgia, Texas and now Arkansas.
—Penny Weaver, Arkansas Online, 28 Jan. 2026
The National Immigration Law Center fights in courts and legislatures to protect low-income immigrants, ensuring that civil rights don’t disappear simply because of where someone was born.
—Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 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 31 Jan. 2026.
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