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

Vietnamese Americans faced severe discrimination as refugees following the Vietnam War, experiencing economic marginalization, language barriers, and violent anti-refugee hostility, exemplified by Ku Klux Klan attacks on Gulf Coast Vietnamese fishermen. —Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 17 May 2025

Malcolm was not yet born (his mother was pregnant with him at the time), but this violent act would propel his family across a succession of towns in the Midwest where his parents, followers of the Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey, continued to be hounded by the Ku Klux Klan. —Lizzie Skurnick, New York Times, 16 May 2025

This included when the Ku Klux Klan overran 11 counties in South Carolina during the Reconstruction era in acts of domestic terrorism. —Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 11 May 2025

Also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, it was meant to counter violence and intimidation of groups opposing Reconstruction in the South. —Will Weissert, Chicago Tribune, 10 May 2025

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