natural right
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of natural right
First recorded in 1680–90
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.
Wilson redefined “liberty” not as a natural right antecedent to the government, but as “the right of those who are governed to adjust government to their own needs and interests.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
Pezeshkian said Thursday that protest "is the natural right of citizens" but a distinction had to be drawn between protesters "whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent people".
From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026
"It's an antisemitic step that has one goal - to deter me, to deter us from having our natural right to defend ourselves against enemies who try to destroy us," he said.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2025
Jefferson even concluded in his treatise that "such act will be an infringement of natural right."
From Salon • Oct. 27, 2022
I was feeling myself beyond any natural right.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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.
