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

In Montgomery Alabama, a stand alone prison camp that is usually pretty laid back, prisoners decided on a bit of civil disobedience and opted to skip eating in the dining hall. —Walter Pavlo, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024

Acts of digital civil disobedience are increasingly being targeted and prosecuted not as protest but as terrorism. —Taylor Owen, Foreign Affairs, 25 May 2015

What’s more, while some young people are worried that acts of civil disobedience might hinder their chances of getting a job down the line, that’s not a concern for people who are retired. —Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2024

Those protests would culminate in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience. —Jay Stahl, USA TODAY, 3 July 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