civil rights
Americanplural noun
-
rights to personal liberty established by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and certain Congressional acts, especially as applied to an individual or a minority group.
-
the rights to full legal, social, and economic equality extended to African Americans.
plural noun
-
the personal rights of the individual citizen, in most countries upheld by law, as in the US
-
(modifier) of, relating to, or promoting equality in social, economic, and political rights
Discover More
Efforts to redress the situation of inequality, such as the civil rights movement and the women's movement, have resulted in legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in affirmative action, and in the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Etymology
Origin of civil rights
First recorded in 1715–25
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Seitz said the men had assaulted him, and that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and deputies had violated his civil rights, inflicted emotional stress, defamed him and conspired to keep the matter quiet.
From Los Angeles Times
Lemon and the others initially arrested have pleaded not guilty to civil rights violations.
From BBC
Davis, the civil rights attorney, said that in his experience prosecuting use-of-force cases it is extremely rare for less-lethal munitions to cause death.
From Los Angeles Times
Kind of a weird statement, since Amodei is basically on the side of protecting civil rights, which means the Department of Defense is arguing it’s bad for private people and entities to do that?
From Los Angeles Times
She wondered if “Kin” was actually an effort to better understand her parents, particularly her mother, a former economist who’d been active in the civil rights movement.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
