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
An act of civil disobedience includes sitting on a public road to block traffic.
—
Angela Rodriguez, Sacbee.com, 12 June 2025
Peaceful protests erupted nationally, government workers launched a civil disobedience movement, and millions of students boycotted school.
—Emily Fishbein, Hpan Ja Brang, The Dial, 17 Apr. 2025
Third Act is encouraging participants to bring signs, chant, and engage in peaceful civil disobedience.
—Lee Habeeb, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Apr. 2025
The military junta that has led the country since a 2021 coup has cracked down on doctors and nurses, who have been at the forefront of a nationwide civil disobedience movement that has opposed the regime.
—Sui-Lee Wee, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for civil disobedience
Angela Rodriguez, Sacbee.com, 12 June 2025
Peaceful protests erupted nationally, government workers launched a civil disobedience movement, and millions of students boycotted school.
—Emily Fishbein, Hpan Ja Brang, The Dial, 17 Apr. 2025
Third Act is encouraging participants to bring signs, chant, and engage in peaceful civil disobedience.
—Lee Habeeb, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Apr. 2025
The military junta that has led the country since a 2021 coup has cracked down on doctors and nurses, who have been at the forefront of a nationwide civil disobedience movement that has opposed the regime.
—Sui-Lee Wee, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for civil disobedience
Recent Examples of Synonyms for civil disobedience
Noun
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The final season picks up right where season 2 left off, with the deadly games resuming after Seong Gi-hun’s failed rebellion and Hwang Jun-ho continuing his search for the elusive island.—
Regina Kim,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
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Luckily, the late ’70s and the early ’80s helped reframe that perception, loosening the bounds of traditional beauty standards amid the era of punk rebellion.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
30 June 2025
Noun
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Four years later, an America-first cultural crackdown has freed the Met to cast off the hair shirt of reckoning and celebrate its diverse holdings in a spirit of defiance.—
Julian Lucas,
New Yorker,
30 June 2025
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Small acts of defiance are happening in real life, too.—
Suzanne Rowan Kelleher,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
Noun
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While declarations have been made in the past regarding our city having a sanctuary status, there have been no clear directives toward local law enforcement regarding noncooperation with federal agencies such as ICE.—
Scott Wartman,
The Enquirer,
2 July 2025
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These movements used many different tools at their disposal — lawsuits, mass rallies, strikes, work slowdowns, boycotts and other forms of noncooperation and resistance.—
David Brooks,
Mercury News,
23 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Civil disobedience.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/civil%20disobedience. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.
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