equal opportunity

American  

noun

equal opportunities plural

1. the aggregation of policies and practices in employment and other areas that do not discriminate against people on the basis of race, skin color, age, sex, gender, national origin, religion, or mental or physical disability.

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equal opportunity British  

noun

1. 1. the offering of employment, pay, or promotion equally to all, without discrimination as to sex, race, colour, disability, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      our equal-opportunity policy

      an equal-opportunities employer

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equal opportunity Cultural  

1. The goal of giving all persons an equal chance to an education and employment, and to protect their civil rights, regardless of their race, religious beliefs, or gender. In the United States, various minority groups have been fighting for equal opportunity over the last 150 years. (See affirmative action, civil rights movement, equal protection of the laws, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Organization for Women, segregation, sexism, suffragist, and women's movement.)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• equal-opportunity
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• equal opportunities
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

equal opportunity

They alleged she violated her duty and responsibility as a faculty member by directing and encouraging students to violate university policies that regulate free speech on campus and promote diversity and equal opportunity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

This often comes up as an issue when it comes to selling advertising time—they can’t just sell advertising time to one side without offering an equal opportunity to the other.

From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026

Just as humans are all the same at birth, they’re alike in death, too, afforded an equal opportunity to find their ideal eternity.

From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2025

It was the first executive civil-rights directive since Reconstruction, and the first federal act to promote equal opportunity in the workplace and prohibit employment discrimination.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 23, 2025

The act, in effect, abolished poll taxes, literacy tests and other barriers to equal opportunity at the ballot box.

From "Because They Marched" by Russell Freedman

Related Words

• civil rights
• coordination
• fairness
• identity
• impartiality
• parity
• tolerance