social movement

American  

noun

1. a group of diffusely organized people or organizations striving toward a common goal relating to human society or social change, or the organized activities of such a group.

   The push for civil rights was a social movement that peaked in the 1950s and 1960s.

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Etymology

Origin of social movement

First recorded in 1830–40

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

social movement

What drives societal ills or ignites a social movement?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Likewise, Epstein saw #MeToo as a problem to be neutralized because the success of any social movement in which women were treated as reliable narrators of their own exploitation would impede his own racket.”

From Salon ● May 23, 2026

Changing perceptions about aging is the biggest social movement of our lives, much in the same way other social movements have advanced the rights of women, civil rights and LGBTQ+, Clinton said.

From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026

“There has never been a successful social movement in this country that has not had a great soundtrack,” Morello said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2025

I argue that nothing short of a major social movement can successfully dismantle the new caste system.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

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