civil liberty

noun

1. the freedom of a citizen to exercise customary rights, as of speech or assembly, without unwarranted or arbitrary interference by the government.
2. such a right as guaranteed by the laws of a country, as in the U.S. by the Bill of Rights.

civil liberty

noun

1. the right of an individual to certain freedoms of speech and action

Word History and Origins

Origin of civil liberty¹

First recorded in 1635–45

Example Sentences

Some activists argued that civil liberties had actually been eroded under her watch and held protests.

From Time

The way Alexander sees it, tech companies and police departments have found ways to talk about civil liberties without substantively changing the work they do and the tools they develop and buy.

From Voice of San Diego

The remaining years of the Fujimori regime were marked by curtailed civil liberties, human rights violations and a concentration of executive power.

From Washington Post

Its billboards across the country called for impeaching Chief Justice Earl Warren over the Supreme Court’s decisions in favor of civil liberties and desegregation.

From Washington Post

Their relations have taken a hit since then, poisoned by the US-China trade war and a crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

From Quartz

This is my big idea in How Sex Became a Civil Liberty: We made it up.

From The Daily Beast

Leigh Ann Wheeler, the author of How Sex Became a Civil Liberty, on how civil libertarians invented sexual liberties.

From The Daily Beast

Before Fort Sumter, Gordon, a lawyer, defended slavery as “the hand-maid of civil liberty.”

From The Daily Beast

These resolves condemned the Stamp Act and defiantly acclaimed the rights which they considered essential to civil liberty.

From Project Gutenberg

Our civil liberty affords us a sufficient foundation, and our liberty leads us to absolute verity in art.

From Project Gutenberg

The Searcher of hearts knows that every pulsation of mine beats high and strong in the cause of civil liberty.

From Project Gutenberg

Nothing is more natural than the transition from civil liberty to religious freedom.

From Project Gutenberg

While, as has been said, this desire for civil liberty was extending, so also was the Reformation making great progress.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• civil rights
• freedom
• freedom of religion
• freedom of speech