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  • Satyagraha
    Satyagraha
    noun
    (in India) the policy of passive resistance inaugurated by Mohandas Gandhi in 1919 as a method of gaining political and social reforms.
  • satyagraha
    satyagraha
    noun
    the policy of nonviolent resistance adopted by Mahatma Gandhi from about 1919 to oppose British rule in India

Satyagraha

American  
[suht-yuh-gruh-huh, suht-yah-gruh-] / ˈsʌt jəˌgrʌ hə, sətˈjɑ grə- /

noun

(sometimes lowercase)
  1. (in India) the policy of passive resistance inaugurated by Mohandas Gandhi in 1919 as a method of gaining political and social reforms.


satyagraha British  
/ ˈsɔːtjɑːɡrɔːhɑː /

noun

  1. the policy of nonviolent resistance adopted by Mahatma Gandhi from about 1919 to oppose British rule in India

  2. any movement of nonviolent resistance

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Satyagraha

1915–20; < Hindi, equivalent to Sanskrit satya truth + āgraha strong attachment, persistence

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.

See Examples For:

It was on a ministry mission to India in the ’50s that Lawson learned about Satyagraha, the method of resistance through nonviolence, developed by Mahatma Gandhi.

From Slate Dec. 22, 2020

Satyagraha LA Opera stages this Philip Glass opera about Gandhi’s years as a young attorney in South Africa.

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 2, 2018

Satyagraha, literally translated as “holding fast to truth,” obliged protesters to “always keep an open mind and be ever ready to find that what we believed to be truth was, after all, untruth.”

From The New Yorker Oct. 15, 2018

When all the elements and the singers are balanced, like in the superb Carsen Onegin, or the recent Satyagraha, we are in for true magic.

From New York Times Dec. 28, 2017

A person who believes in Satyagraha will not fight physically, but instead resists through his or her own inner courage, knowing he might be jailed or beaten.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson

Sakshi Malik has not hesitated to compare their marches with those of Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent anti-colonialism, labeling their struggle as a form of satyagraha.

From Slate Jun. 11, 2023

For Indians resisting the British, satyagraha took the form of passive, nonviolent resistance to the injustice perpetrated by India’s colonial invaders.

From Textbooks Jun. 15, 2022

Rather, Guha’s chosen subjects in “Rebels Against the Raj” were mainly inspired by Gandhi’s nonviolent satyagraha protests.

From New York Times Feb. 25, 2022

Gandhi claimed that those engaged in satyagraha were “true warriors,” fearless enough to never resort to arms—as opposed to the cowards driven by fear to violence.

From The New Yorker Oct. 15, 2018

When the party voted to approve the "Quit India" resolution, demanding immediate independence and launching a satyagraha civil-disobedience campaign in support of that goal, the British responded by going after Gandhi.

From Time Aug. 9, 2017

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