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

Until then, the SPLC mainly made money off of its donor base’s disdain toward the Ku Klux Klan. —Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 25 Apr. 2026

Millwall was blindsided by the educational pamphlet that featured the southeast London club’s badge edited onto an illustration of a Ku Klux Klan robe. —ABC News, 24 Apr. 2026

The Justice Department alleges that the civil rights group known as the SPLC improperly raised millions of dollars to secretly pay leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist and extremist groups for inside information. —Beth Gazley, The Conversation, 24 Apr. 2026

The 11-count indictment alleges that the civil rights nonprofit organization, best known for its work to oppose the Ku Klux Klan, lied to donors about paying confidential informants to infiltrate hate groups and deceived banks about the bank accounts used to make those payments. —Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 23 Apr. 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