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 artist and activist has used performance art to challenge the government and advocate for civil liberties using the Cuban flag, demonstrations, and acts of civil disobedience. — News Desk, Artforum, 21 July 2026

As a founder of the San Isidro Movement, Otero Alcántara used performance art to challenge the Cuban government, repeatedly provoking authorities through works involving the national flag, public demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience. — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 20 July 2026

In 1952 he was convicted for his role in a civil disobedience campaign and received a nine-month sentence of hard labor (suspended for two years). — Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 June 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