civil disobedience
nounDefinition of civil disobedience
: refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government
Examples of civil disobedience in a Sentence
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.
Recent Examples on the Web
Misik and her friends spent much of their summer in detention, waiting at police stations for others to be released, or planning their next act of civil disobedience. — Washington Post, "Russian protesters aided by digital tools, self-organizing," 6 Sep. 2019 New Yorkers encountered multiple acts of civil disobedience—the blocking of major roadways, the taking over of Grand Central Station—after the Staten Island district attorney failed to secure an indictment against Pantaleo back in 2014. — Melissa Gira Grant, The New Republic, "New Yorkers Should Thank Police for the Summer “Slowdown”," 30 Aug. 2019 Some MassCann members sympathized with Racioppi, seeing his events as somewhat tongue-in-cheek affairs with a tinge of civil disobedience. — Dan Adams, BostonGlobe.com, "Ignore the Straight Pride Parade or fight it? LGBTQ community divided over how to respond," 29 Aug. 2019 August Three days of civil disobedience culminated in a call for a general strike on Aug. 5 — perhaps the biggest day of unrest this summer. — New York Times, "City on Edge: Photographs From Hong Kong’s Summer of Protest," 28 Aug. 2019 The civil disobedience began in the afternoon with a peaceful rally in Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island that had been authorized by the police. — New York Times, "Hong Kong Convulsed by Protest as Police Fire Tear Gas Into Subway," 11 Aug. 2019 The civil disobedience began in the afternoon with a peaceful rally in Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island that had been authorized by the police. — Mike Ives, BostonGlobe.com, "Hong Kong convulsed by protest as police fire tear gas into subway," 11 Aug. 2019 Some of the territory’s citizens would resist, directly or in a campaign of civil disobedience. — The Economist, "Chinese troops must stay off the streets of Hong Kong," 8 Aug. 2019 When a player engages in this sort of civil disobedience, the team can respond in a couple of different ways. — Andrew Brandt, SI.com, "Ezekiel Elliott and Melvin Gordon Will Likely Get Their Contract Upgrade—With a Caveat," 6 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'civil disobedience.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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