Synonyms of civil disobedience

civil disobedience

noun

as in rebellion

refusal to obey laws as a way of forcing the government to do or change something

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.

Related Words

• rebellion
• defiance
• noncooperation
• disobedience
• insubordination
• recalcitrance
• refractoriness
• rebelliousness
• intractability
• unruliness
• contumacy
• obstreperousness
• waywardness
• balkiness
• willfulness
• obdurateness
• contrariness
• perversity
• tenacity
• stubbornness
• peevishness
• mulishness
• frowardness
• obduracy
• obstinacy
• obstinateness
• doggedness
• self-will
• pertinaciousness
• pertinacity
• tenaciousness
• hardheadedness

Dissimilar Words

• amiability
• agreeability
• amenability
• subservience
• submissiveness
• subserviency
• slavishness
• deference
• trainability
• docility
• compliance
• submission
• subordination
• obedience
• dutifulness
• tractability
• subordinateness
• tractableness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of civil disobedience

The United States is now witnessing the unraveling of nearly a century of organizing, civil disobedience and personal sacrifice by ordinary people who helped build Black political power to heights unseen since Reconstruction. — Leah Willingham, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2026

We were fascinated by a broader trend — covered locally by the Chicago Sun-Times and nationally by outlets including CNBC and The New York Times — of people turning the humble 1040 into a form of civil disobedience. — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026

Since then, photos and videos from the act of civil disobedience have spread widely across social media — amplified by others who share a similar frustration and unease about the country's military action. — Juliana Kim, NPR, 24 Apr. 2026

Generations of Americans spent the first half of the twentieth century sitting at their kitchen tables, performing a small act of civil disobedience every week to save thirty cents on butter. — Christian Catalini, Forbes.com, 20 Apr. 2026