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

The need for separate athletic teams to fulfill Title IX’s mandate for equal opportunity was already well-established.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Without equal citizenship, equal voting rights, and equal opportunity to elect representatives of one’s choice, republican government was an impossibility.

From Slate ● Jun. 3, 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

He added that it could help give "equal opportunity to those who are less fortunate and that the centre can plug that gap for disadvantaged children".

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2025

The regimental engineer of the 46th Guards, Klavdiya Ilushina, insisted that they had “absolute equal opportunity with men.”

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

Related Words

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