nonviolent

[non-vahy-uh-luhnt]

adjective

1. not violent; free of violence.

2. peacefully resistant, as in response to or protest against injustice, especially on moral or philosophical grounds.

Other Word Forms

• nonviolently adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of nonviolent¹

First recorded in 1915–20; non- + violent

Example Sentences

In a video posted Wednesday, Fonda, 87, said the goal was not to form another organization but to “grow a movement” centered on “creative, nonviolent noncooperation.”

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Rigorously self-educated about the law and routinely targeted by guards, these inspiring subjects have stayed dedicated to nonviolent reform.

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Which brings me to the consent theory of power, a favorite of theorists and agitators from way back, updated by Gene Sharp, an advocate of nonviolent resistance.

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The purge, which became known as the “Eureka method,” was hailed by white people as nonviolent and copied across California — including in Del Norte County, where Dock lived.

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The group’s website champions “nonviolent creative confrontation to expose the disastrous effects of the mass shooting pandemic.”

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Related Words

• pacifist 
• passive