civil rights
plural noun
: rights that citizens are guaranteed by their government through legislation or other government action to ensure equal opportunities (as for employment, education, housing, or voting) and equal protection under the law regardless of personal characteristics such as race, religion, or sex
especially
: the rights of personal liberty guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution and by acts of Congress
Note: The 13th Amendment (ratified 1865) abolished slavery and the 14th Amendment (ratified 1868) granted citizenship and equal rights to all people born or naturalized in the U.S., including formerly enslaved people and African Americans generally. The 15th Amendment (ratified 1870) guaranteed the right to vote regardless of color or former enslavement.
compare civil liberty see also civil rights movementExamples of civil rights in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Holt, who has six cases pending in federal court over civil rights violation claims, said as soon as he was transferred, the state began trying to get the cases dismissed as moot, citing his relocation to West Virginia.
—
Arkansas Online, 22 Oct. 2025
Same goes for schools that have questions about the technicalities of IDEA, or, in many cases, parents looking to file a civil rights complaint.
—Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 19 Oct. 2025
What’s left of it was led, at least for a while, by a 29-year-old White House appointee who helped craft Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint that broadly calls for the curtailment of civil rights enforcement.
—J. David McSwane, ProPublica, 18 Oct. 2025
It would also be directed to monitor compliance with state and federal civil rights laws.
—Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for civil rights
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Arkansas Online, 22 Oct. 2025
Same goes for schools that have questions about the technicalities of IDEA, or, in many cases, parents looking to file a civil rights complaint.
—Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 19 Oct. 2025
What’s left of it was led, at least for a while, by a 29-year-old White House appointee who helped craft Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint that broadly calls for the curtailment of civil rights enforcement.
—J. David McSwane, ProPublica, 18 Oct. 2025
It would also be directed to monitor compliance with state and federal civil rights laws.
—Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for civil rights
Cite this Entry
“Civil rights.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/civil%20rights. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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