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
Jacobs, a White man, likened Walton, a Black woman, to David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
—
Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 27 June 2025
In his 1964 book The Minister and the Choir Singer, attorney William Kunstler theorized that the crime was committed by the Ku Klux Klan, then active in New Jersey, as a way to punish the philandering minister.
—Jordan Runtagh, People.com, 27 June 2025
Sharief, who was the county’s first Black female mayor, said her home address was posted on a website affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan.
—Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 17 June 2025
Nathan Daye, 30, remembers the Ku Klux Klan parading through the streets of his hometown of Roxboro, North Carolina, in 2016 when Donald Trump won his first election.
—Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 15 June 2025
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Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 27 June 2025
In his 1964 book The Minister and the Choir Singer, attorney William Kunstler theorized that the crime was committed by the Ku Klux Klan, then active in New Jersey, as a way to punish the philandering minister.
—Jordan Runtagh, People.com, 27 June 2025
Sharief, who was the county’s first Black female mayor, said her home address was posted on a website affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan.
—Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 17 June 2025
Nathan Daye, 30, remembers the Ku Klux Klan parading through the streets of his hometown of Roxboro, North Carolina, in 2016 when Donald Trump won his first election.
—Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 15 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for Ku Klux Klan
Cite this Entry
“Ku Klux Klan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ku%20Klux%20Klan. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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