human rights

plural noun

: rights (such as freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture, and execution) regarded as belonging fundamentally to all persons

Examples of human rights in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Abdurrahman Wahid; Wiranto had been accused of human rights abuses in East Timor. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 July 2026

This binding international treaty commits states to AI systems that respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law. — Alain Berset, Time, 6 July 2026

The case has prompted widespread condemnation from Western governments and human rights organizations, which have accused Beijing of using national security laws to silence dissent. — Elmira Aliieva, NBC news, 5 July 2026

Though the Civil War had ended more than a decade earlier, the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison recognized that the Declaration had not yet fulfilled its promise of inalienable human rights. — Brenda Wineapple, The New York Review of Books, 4 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1629, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for human rights

• acolytes
• ammonites
• amorites
• analytes
• andesites
• appetites
• argillites
• astrocytes
• belemnites
• bryophytes
• canaanites
• carmelites

Legal Definition

human rights

noun plural

: rights (as freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture, and execution) regarded as belonging fundamentally to all people