civil disobedience

American  

[siv-uhl dis-uh-bee-dee-uhns] / ˈsɪv əl ˌdɪs əˈbi di əns /

noun

1. the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or government policy, characterized by the employment of such nonviolent techniques as boycotting, picketing, and nonpayment of taxes.

2. (initial capital letters, italics) an essay (1848) by Thoreau.

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civil disobedience British  

noun

1. a refusal to obey laws, pay taxes, etc: a nonviolent means of protesting or of attempting to achieve political goals

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“Civil Disobedience” ¹ Cultural  

1. (1849) An essay by Henry David Thoreau. It contains his famous statement “That government is best which governs least,” and asserts that people's obligations to their own conscience take precedence over their obligations to their government. Thoreau also argues that if, in following their conscience, people find it necessary to break the laws of the state, they should be prepared to pay penalties, including imprisonment.

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civil disobedience ² Cultural  

1. The refusal to obey a law out of a belief that the law is morally wrong.

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Discover More

Thoreau himself went to jail for refusing to pay a tax to support the Mexican War.

In the nineteenth century, the American author Henry David Thoreau wrote “Civil Disobedience,” an important essay justifying such action.

In the twentieth century, civil disobedience was exercised by Mahatma Gandhi in the struggle for independence in India. Civil disobedience, sometimes called nonviolent resistance or passive resistance, was also practiced by some members of the civil rights movement in the United States, notably Martin Luther King, Jr., to challenge segregation of public facilities; a common tactic of these civil rights supporters was the sit-in. King defended the use of civil disobedience in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

Etymology

Origin of civil disobedience

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

That’s an example of how protesters committed to civil disobedience and police can work together.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

That summer, 1960, Jackson came home and led a sit-in at the library, his arrest a first taste of civil disobedience.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026

Other groups are providing nonviolent civil disobedience training, for example, which organizers describe as calling attention to the injustice of the current policy.

From Salon • Feb. 13, 2026

The women volunteers of the civil disobedience movement are getting a belated acknowledgement of their defining role in one of India's biggest mass movements.

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2025

They traced their philosophy to Thoreau and Gandhi, debating the great works of civil disobedience at Floyd McKissick’s office on Main Street in study and prayer sessions that often lasted all night.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

• protest march