Definition of civil disobedience
: refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government
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Examples of civil disobedience in a Sentence
In an act of civil disobedience, the family sent its tax money to an antiwar organization.
A student organization is encouraging civil disobedience as a way to get the university to change its policies.
Recent Examples of civil disobedience from the Web
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There were calls for civil disobedience and concerns about America slipping toward dictatorship.
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But if Lukensmeyer is right, then one of the challenges of any attempt to spread civility far and wide will be in maintaining the critical distinction between civil disobedience and incivility.
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Women's March urged supporters to register online to join the June 28 civil disobedience at www.endfamilyseparation.us.
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For 40 days, demonstrators planned to hold acts of civil disobedience like blocking traffic and refusing to leave public buildings every Monday nationwide.
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He was arrested for his own civil disobedience and for being gay.
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If Okoumou had not already been naturalized, the current federal proceedings for her act of civil disobedience would have transformed into a referendum on her legal residency in this country.
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Okoumou’s act of civil disobedience immediately turned into a iconic visual moment, capturing the physical risk Black women go to in their efforts to secure justice and liberation for all.
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Jim Crow laws were defeated through mass protests and civil disobedience.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'civil disobedience.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of civil disobedience
1866
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE Defined for English Language Learners
civil disobedience
Definition of civil disobedience for English Language Learners
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: refusal to obey laws as a way of forcing the government to do or change something
Law Dictionary
civil disobedience
noun
civil dis·obe·di·ence
legal Definition of civil disobedience
: refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government
Learn More about civil disobedience
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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about civil disobedience
Seen and Heard
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