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

The flood of federal assistance that washed over the country beginning in 2020—some $4.6 trillion in additional spending over two years—created numerous opportunities for corruption.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

There is no comfort to be taken from playing well for chunks of games, from creating numerous opportunities and not converting, from running big teams close but not winning.

From BBC • Nov. 16, 2025

It was about 12 hours after his team blew numerous opportunities in an overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and Rams coach Sean McVay was still kicking himself.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 3, 2025

These environments offer numerous opportunities for contamination by pathogens that cause illness and produce organisms that make food spoil.

From Salon • Dec. 5, 2024

As Tom Welcome not infrequently 69 was unable to pay the rent when it was due, Boland had had numerous opportunities for seeing Patience, who was treasurer of the Welcome household.

From Little Lost Sister by Brooks, Virginia

Related Words

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