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.
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Recent Examples of civil disobedience
All 13 people arrested were given a summons for civil disobedience and released from custody.
—
Doug Williams, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
Protests from the group lasted for weeks and had a mix of civil disobedience and violence between protestors and police.
—Irene Wright, USA Today, 3 Feb. 2026
In Iran’s history, the telegraph played a significant role in political movements, organized protests, and civil disobedience as far back as the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
So civil disobedience and noncompliance are indeed justified.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 26 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for civil disobedience
Doug Williams, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
Protests from the group lasted for weeks and had a mix of civil disobedience and violence between protestors and police.
—Irene Wright, USA Today, 3 Feb. 2026
In Iran’s history, the telegraph played a significant role in political movements, organized protests, and civil disobedience as far back as the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
So civil disobedience and noncompliance are indeed justified.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 26 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for civil disobedience
Recent Examples of Synonyms for civil disobedience
Noun
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We were labeled as ‘frat rock’ by more than one magazine, but that in itself was almost a rebellion against the homogenization of what was then grunge.—
Josh Crutchmer,
Rolling Stone,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Punk has always been about rebellion and rejecting the status quo.—
Fiction Non Fiction,
Literary Hub,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Successors have fewer incentives to compromise and greater incentives to demonstrate defiance.—
Robert A. Pape,
Mercury News,
3 Mar. 2026
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Amini’s defiance, and subsequent death, caused the country to erupt in protest, and the outrage reverberated worldwide.—
Lily Moayeri,
Rolling Stone,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The critics from back then are on him again now—except this time many are urging him to have local police act more proactively to protect residents from ICE’s excesses and to hold the line on noncooperation with DHS.—
Julia Terruso,
Time,
5 Feb. 2026
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Nevertheless, some common, noncooperation policies have existed in a handful of places, including Charlotte, where the police don't help with immigration enforcement.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
18 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Civil disobedience.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/civil%20disobedience. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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