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 1871, the Senate created a select committee to investigate Ku Klux Klan violence during Reconstruction. — Gibbs Knotts, The Conversation, 4 Nov. 2026

Collins’s campaign also faced allegations last month that two campaign volunteers had ties to a white nationalist group founded by a former Ku Klux Klan leader. — Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 2 Nov. 2026

Police and the El Paso, Texas, branch of the NAACP are condemning a group of people, possibly including youths, who were shown wearing Ku Klux Klan-style white robes and hoods in viral social media videos. — Dennis Romero, NBC news, 27 Oct. 2026

By the 1920s, it was estimated that one out of seven Long Islanders belonged to the Ku Klux Klan. — Jason Motlagh, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2026

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