affirmative action

noun

: the use of policies, legislation, programs, and procedures to improve the educational or employment opportunities of members of certain demographic groups (such as minority groups, women, and older people) as a remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination against such groups

Note: Affirmative action gives limited preference to qualified groups (which may include racial and ethnic minorities, women, older people, people with disabilities, and some veterans) in job hiring, admission to institutions of higher education, the awarding of government contracts, and other social benefits.

The term affirmative action was … used in an executive order issued by President Johnson in 1965, which banned all federal contractors and subcontractors, as well as unions involved in federal work, from practicing employment discrimination.

—Michael L. Levine

Unlike previous measures, such as the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, which prohibited discrimination, the goal of affirmative action was to adopt a proactive approach to redressing past discrimination. It goes beyond the prohibition of overtly racist practices by requiring employers, public contractors, and college admissions officers to cast a wider net in their searches for qualified workers and students through active recruitment of racial minorities.

—Shirley J. Yee et al.

Examples of affirmative action in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Then, researchers looked at the racial demographics of the incoming classes at those same schools in 2024, the year after affirmative action was overturned. —Rebecca Noel, Charlotte Observer, 12 Mar. 2026

Progressives may have lost the battle for racial affirmative action, but ironically, Supreme Court decisions should allow colleges to give advantage to groups defined by their income, geography, or heritage. —David Cole, The New York Review of Books, 5 Mar. 2026

Republicans said the bill will save taxpayer dollars by eliminating reporting requirements and positions dealing with affirmative action requirements. —Marissa Payne, Des Moines Register, 5 Mar. 2026

In recent years, the courts chipped away at affirmative action in American life − most significantly when the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that colleges' consideration of race as a factor in student admissions was unconstitutional. —Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 26 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for affirmative action

• abstraction
• attraction
• compaction
• contraction
• detraction
• diffraction
• distraction
• exaction
• extraction
• impaction
• inaction
• infraction

Kids Definition

affirmative action

noun

: the use of laws, policies, and programs giving limited preference to qualified minority groups and women to improve educational and employment opportunities as a remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination

Legal Definition

affirmative action

noun

: an active effort (as through legislation) to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups or women