rights 1 of 2

plural of right
1
as in privileges
something to which one has a just claim everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

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2
as in claims
an entitlement to something what right do you have to tell us what to do?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

rights

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of right

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rights
Noun
The move quickly set off a firestorm, with immigration rights advocates accusing DOJ of trying to malign a dead man. Josh Campbell, CNN Money, 19 July 2026 In The Origins of Woke, published not long after the HuffPost expose, Hanania took aim at decades’ worth of civil-rights law. Gilad Edelman, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026 San Diego Pride’s own origins date back to 1974, when a group of people took to San Diego’s streets calling for gay rights. Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 July 2026 But in a Hollywood where intellectual property rights rule most hits, Nolan turned one of the world’s oldest works of literature into an unlikely summer blockbuster. Jake Coyle, Fortune, 19 July 2026 Telemundo’s rival, Univision, had held the rights to UEFA club competitions, with English-language rights currently held by CBS. Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 19 July 2026 Instead, the division has brought actions against law enforcement agencies deemed to have failed to protect the rights of gun owners. Ben Wieder, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2026 Host Peter Ruiz, who guides guests through their Cube experience, said that the company has the rights to all of the games from the television show, so games could be swapped out at any time. Ryan P. C. Trimble, Chicago Tribune, 19 July 2026 The package will also include the Spanish-language rights to UEFA’s Europa League, Conference League and Super Cup competitions. Andrew Greif, NBC news, 19 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rights
Noun
  • Children’s said that the plaintiffs were attempting to force it to stop granting admitting privileges to physicians who refused to offer gender-affirming care, which would ultimately harm patients.
    Meg Wingerter, Denver Post, 15 July 2026
  • After that, driving privileges are terminated and drivers risk detention and deportation.
    Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 15 July 2026
Noun
  • Earlier in July, a senior security source in Tehran told CNN that the claims of nuclear activities taking place at Pickaxe Mountain were false.
    Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 22 July 2026
  • Finley’s claims about TikTok and the latter as the barrier to so much better in the United States recall Barack Obama, though with one difference.
    John Tamny, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
Verb
  • There are so many reasons to be mad; the mostly baseless and endless attacks on higher education, the dismantling of life-saving research, ICE, the subverting of policy that redresses shameful social harms.
    Wendy Nelson Espeland, Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • Exercising the prerogatives of citizenship meant a wearying, lifelong battle to mitigate harm—one that would invariably fail, as the experiences of one generation faded out of living memory and another one picked up the same arguments and same ideas to reconfigure them in new ways.
    Christopher Hooks, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026
  • But the mother of congressional prerogatives (enshrined in Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution) is the power to declare war.
    Andreas Kluth, Mercury News, 12 June 2026
Noun
  • At 61, unaligned to any party faction and with no pretensions to the highest office, the Scot would represent little threat to Burnham.
    Ian King, CNBC, 15 July 2026
  • The British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, who converted to Christianity late in his life, pointed out that Jesus’s entire ministry was directed against the pretensions of earthly power.
    Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026
Verb
  • Instead of retraining an entire AI model, which can be extremely expensive, the system improves performance during generation.
    Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 18 July 2026
  • As health alerts have been issued amid the wildfire smoke in New York and New Jersey, FIFA is not concerned about the impact of poor air quality on the World Cup final as the weather forecast improves, according to unnamed sources who spoke to ESPN.
    Antonio Pequeño IV, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
Verb
  • This lessens the chance of fungal diseases and betters airflow and light exposure to all parts of the plant.
    Melissa Epifano, The Spruce, 18 July 2026
  • If the Sharks make the playoffs next season and Celebrini betters his 115-point total from this season, wouldn’t his next deal become that much more expensive?
    Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 30 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The product’s ceramide inclusion is also joined by skin care’s workhorse hyaluronic acid, antioxidant-rich vitamins C and E, plus sea buckthorn, which aids with brightening and thereby remedies dark spots.
    Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 17 July 2026
  • Stay prepared for those just-in-case scenarios by stocking everything from itch creams and allergy meds to cold and headache remedies.
    Betsy Cribb Watson, Southern Living, 12 July 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Rights.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rights. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

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