uncivil

adjective

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un·civ·il | \ ˌən-ˈsi-vəl

Definition of uncivil

1 : not civilized : barbarous

2 : lacking in courtesy : ill-mannered, impolite uncivil remarks

3 : not conducive to civic harmony and welfare

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Examples of uncivil in a Sentence

the uncivil and wild land that the pioneers tamed and settled such uncivil behavior will not be tolerated

Recent Examples on the Web Each day, the chasm separating Americans is deepened by a flood of uncivil tweets, seditious Facebook posts and partisan cable news networks that sow division for profit, immediate attention or the simple hatred of those seen as different. — Phillip Halpern, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Commentary: 2020 is the year our democracy died," 30 Dec. 2020 The idea that civilization is often uncivil is not nearly new. — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, "Commentary: Pop culture isn’t biased toward ‘coastal elites.’ If anything, it’s the opposite," 30 Dec. 2020 Working to overcome racial divides in today’s uncivil climate offers that solution. — Diane Bell Columnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Was Todd Gloria destined to be San Diego’s mayor?," 11 Dec. 2020 Where Twitter and its commenters can be uncivil and cruel, the vast majority of my newsletter replies were from nice people thanking me for writing them. — Tania Ganguli Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, "Newsletter: A newsletter farewell from our departing reporter," 1 Dec. 2020 In the three days before the president's diagnosis, the Syracuse project rated roughly 2% of Biden's ads as uncivil in tone, compared to between 3% and 10% for Mr. Trump's. — Graham Kates, CBS News, "Biden eliminated attack ads during Trump's hospital stay. Trump's campaign saw no need for a softer tone.," 7 Oct. 2020 Anderegg told The Tribune that one of his primary concerns has been that, without an option to protect their privacy, candidates might see the uncivil political discourse and decide that running for office isn’t worth it. — Taylor Stevens, The Salt Lake Tribune, "More Utah politicians keep their home addresses private, citing growing incivility," 14 Sep. 2020 Some of these conversations are uncivil, even downright nasty. — Kelly Scott | Kscott@al.com, al, "End of an era: Comments end on AL.com on Thursday," 25 Feb. 2020 My concern isn’t that politics is argumentative or uncivil or divided. — Nicholas Thompson, Wired, "Why Are We Polarized? Don't Blame Social Media, Says Ezra Klein," 13 Feb. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'uncivil.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.