as in war
a a state or period of fighting between groups of people in the same country
a region that has had many civil wars
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Recent Examples of civil war
By the late 1770s, the Revolution in what is known as the Middle Colonies had become a brutal civil war.
—
Maurizio Valsania, The Conversation, 12 Sep. 2025
Just like the democrat party wanted our 1st civil war.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 11 Sep. 2025
The persecution worsened more than a decade ago during uprisings that remade the Middle East by toppling dictators — including Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak — but in some places spiraled into civil war.
—Hannah Allam, ProPublica, 10 Sep. 2025
Philippi also repeatedly espoused his adherence to white supremacist and accelerationist ideologies which promote the idea that a destabilizing terrorist attack on something like the nation's energy sectors could serve to incite unrest that leads to civil war, prosecutors said.
—Alexander Mallin, ABC News, 9 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for civil war
Maurizio Valsania, The Conversation, 12 Sep. 2025
Just like the democrat party wanted our 1st civil war.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 11 Sep. 2025
The persecution worsened more than a decade ago during uprisings that remade the Middle East by toppling dictators — including Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak — but in some places spiraled into civil war.
—Hannah Allam, ProPublica, 10 Sep. 2025
Philippi also repeatedly espoused his adherence to white supremacist and accelerationist ideologies which promote the idea that a destabilizing terrorist attack on something like the nation's energy sectors could serve to incite unrest that leads to civil war, prosecutors said.
—Alexander Mallin, ABC News, 9 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for civil war
Recent Examples of Synonyms for civil war
Noun
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The food industry has weathered trade wars before, but this feels different in its scope and unpredictability.—
Phil Lempert,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
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Grain prices have returned to normalcy after the pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war upset supply chains.—
Jonathan Lansner,
Oc Register,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Wright and Cooke both lean right into the emotionally heightened madness of it all, especially as Laura and Cherry’s cold war turns extremely, violently hot.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
8 Sep. 2025
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The border cold war finally thawed, and over the next decade-plus the schools slowly renewed acquaintances in several sports, including men’s basketball.—
Blair Kerkhoff,
Kansas City Star,
31 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Maybe not something drastic like a world war, slavery or the Holocaust, but there’s always shady s–t going on.—
Carl Lamarre,
Billboard,
3 Sep. 2025
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By the late 1930s, the United States was unprepared for the scale of airpower a world war would demand.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Israel has also bombed Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen in the course of the Gaza conflict.—
Jarrett Renshaw,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
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If both polls and discussions with my friends are anything to go by, Americans feel forever locked in a state of political conflict.—
Sarah Stein Lubrano,
Mercury News,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In 1992, the government pressured Muslim clerics to declare a holy war against Nuba who opposed the regime.—
Nicolas Niarchos,
New Yorker,
19 May 2025
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While Tedesco calls for a holy war in response to the attack, Benitez takes a different approach, declaring that violence should not be met with more violence.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In contrast, China has made targeted investments intended to give it an advantage in a quick, limited war, while keeping its overall defense spending relatively modest: Beijing’s defense spending has risen from five percent of U.S. levels in 1995 to 32 percent in 2017.—
Oriana Skylar Mastro,
Foreign Affairs,
20 May 2025
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Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in a limited war since last October, but Israeli forces have significantly escalated the scope of their attacks since the beginning of September in an attempt to force Hezbollah to stop its attacks on northern Israel.—
Mike Brest,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
30 Sep. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Civil war.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/civil%20war. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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