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.
(initial capital letters, italics) an essay (1848) by Thoreau.
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.”
First recorded in 1865–70
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His attempt at civil disobedience was turned on its head when the governor invited Berry and the Kentucky Rising activists to stay.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
"We will resort, if necessary, to resistance and peaceful civil disobedience," he said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 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
"Glasgow's long history of civil disobedience and meaningful change has been a barometer throughout the making of this film," he said.
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2026
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
But Kasamis takes inspiration from history: He read Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” in high school.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 6, 2026
Second, at their best — in the spirit of Henry David Thoreau’s objection to slavery and the Mexican-American War in his essay “Civil Disobedience” — a protest can provide a shining moral clarity.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2025
Thoreau would pick up his pen to skewer them mercilessly, and — practicing what he preached in his essay “Civil Disobedience” — would probably take to the streets in protest.
From New York Times ● Jul. 12, 2017
Decades later, both Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. credited Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience” with helping inspire their own nonviolent activism.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 10, 2017
In 1849, he published his lecture “Civil Disobedience” and urged readers to refuse to support a government that was immoral.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 30, 2014
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.
