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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Resistance, rebellion and retribution all come out to play in one of Disney+’s most consistent series that’s unafraid to put its larger-than-life characters into the maw of Venus fly trap-like set of moral and ethical issues.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
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In the era of AI, the notion of learning something for yourself is a quiet, internal act of rebellion against a world that seems to be flowing in the wrong direction.—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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So far, Tehran appears to be in no hurry, projecting defiance in the face of what would be a significant escalation and a devastating blow to the country.—
Zach LaChance,
The Washington Examiner,
22 Mar. 2026
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Lola’s father, for example, also had a history of defiance against the government alongside Cora (who Torres plays with paternal patience, as a man who’s seen the decades come and go on the island).—
Carlos Aguilar,
IndieWire,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Boycotts are a form of mass noncooperation that enables more people to resist without taking time off from work, engaging in confrontation or risking arrest.—
David Cortright,
The Conversation,
26 Mar. 2026
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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
Cite this Entry
“Civil disobedience.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/civil%20disobedience. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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