civil disobedience

noun

: 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

Or are the real drivers of the civil disobedience outsider agitators, seizing on an opportunity to wreak chaos and stir up trouble? —Veralyn Williams, NPR, 15 May 2024

Archon Fung, a professor of political science at Harvard, told Fortune there are important parallels between the protests, especially in terms of how university administrations respond to acts of civil disobedience. —Sunny Nagpaul, Fortune, 11 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

civil disobedience

noun

civil dis·​obe·​di·​ence

: refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government