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?

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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 executive director of Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, Cassie Schwerner, said her family has followed voting rights through their ups and downs. Gary Fields, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026 The march stems from the violent 1969 police raid of the Stonewall Inn that catalyzed the gay rights movement at a time when many people who were LGBTQIA+ hid their identity. Lisa Rozner, CBS News, 28 June 2026 Then-Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt criticized the prosecution and sought to intervene, arguing the case raised broader questions about Missourians' rights to defend themselves and their property. Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 28 June 2026 But also, oh the irony, with the Cavaliers trading Wiggins’ draft rights upon LeBron’s Cleveland return, in order to add Kevin Love. Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 28 June 2026 The East Lakeview couple were just two of thousands who came out to Chicago’s annual Pride Parade Sunday, with spectators lining the streets to celebrate LGBTQ+ rights and visibility. Christiana Freitag, Chicago Tribune, 28 June 2026 The authors of this piece — a former federal civil rights prosecutor and a private civil rights attorney — have used both causes of action to punish state officials who trample our rights. Joel B. Rudin, New York Daily News, 28 June 2026 In this century, a combination of prosperity, women’s rights, and smartphones has wrought unexpected changes. Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026 America has witnessed a proliferation of voting rights groups with sound justification and demonstrable results, but there comes a point when there may be too much of a good thing. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 28 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rights
Noun
  • Being a World Cup host nation comes with certain privileges, and home-field advantage is certainly the most important of them.
    Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 28 June 2026
  • The ability to pursue scientific discovery, develop new surgical techniques and work alongside brilliant colleagues to save and improve lives is one of the greatest privileges imaginable.
    Ben Carson, Baltimore Sun, 26 June 2026
Noun
  • However, virtually the same day after Trump makes such triumphant claims, Iranian leaders deny that those things have been agreed upon.
    Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 29 June 2026
  • The government says the land is privately owned, but rival claims over its privatization have emerged.
    Zana Cimili, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 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
  • 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, Chicago Tribune, 3 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
  • 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
  • Adley and his team make great tasting plates first and foremost, but some of the items, like the unmissable chicken wings stuffed with boudin blanc and romesco, act as a cheeky affront to haute cuisine’s pretensions and conventions.
    Colin Wrenn, Denver Post, 3 June 2026
Verb
  • The hit rate improves dramatically.
    Alexej Kovernikov, Forbes.com, 26 June 2026
  • The show, which improves after intermission, does have a fabulous closer — greatest-hits worthy — that is composed simply of two guys (musical director John Love and the consistently excellent Lilly) singing in falsetto.
    Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026
Verb
  • 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
  • Nothing betters the gift of time.
    Brie Stimson , Stephanie Nolasco , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 9 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • New York’s Bivens Act remedies this by extending the protections of Section 1983 to all individual government wrongdoers — including federal ones.
    Joel B. Rudin, New York Daily News, 28 June 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, 14 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Rights.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rights. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.

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