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

The ceremony is overseen by someone in a Ku Klux Klan costume and attended by a collection of weirdos, including a young man in drag — not Divine, as Waters had not yet met his future muse. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 8 Apr. 2024

My wife’s maternal grandfather was an officer in the Ku Klux Klan. —Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024

The state party later disavowed McClanahan after a photo resurfaced online of him saluting in front of a burning cross next to a person wearing what appeared to be a hooded Ku Klux Klan robe. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024

Shortly after Malcolm was born, the Ku Klux Klan threatened the Littles. —Aaron Bonderson - Nebraska Public Media, NPR, 8 Mar. 2024

Worried about its investment, MGM made several cuts and changes to stem the growing outrage among the country’s Irish Catholics — who, it should be noted, already felt under attack by a resurgent and powerful Ku Klux Klan that mocked their faith and questioned their patriotism. —Dan Barry, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024

Among the top 50 individuals honored in public monuments were Confederate leaders including Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general who was the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. —Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024

And beginning in the 1920s, the region became a hot spot for Ku Klux Klan gatherings, including cross burnings in its larger towns. —Joe Heim, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024

With the enthusiastic support of his white co-workers, Weber welcomed the national spotlight – until David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan showed up in white robes to picket the Kaiser Aluminum plant. —Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1867, in the meaning defined at sense 2