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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The stumbles provided ammunition to a bipartisan congressional rebellion that eventually led to overwhelming passage of a bill requiring release of all the files, although the DOJ has been slow to comply.—
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
2 Apr. 2026
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Seeing privileged young women wisen up to their standardized subjugation is bound to be less dramatic than witnessing a righteous workers’ rebellion.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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According to the Indivisible site, what began in 2025 as a single day of defiance has become a sustained national resistance to tyranny, spreading from small towns to city centers and across every community determined to defend democracy.—
Gina Grillo,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
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And an underdog who stayed in the contest in defiance of steep odds and, seemingly, common sense.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
28 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 3 Apr. 2026.
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