How to Use civil in a Sentence

civil

adjective
  • She was barely civil to me.
  • It was hard to be civil when I felt so angry.
  • They got married in a civil ceremony at city hall.
  • But legal experts and civil society groups say the changes don’t go far enough.
    Reuters, NBC News, 5 Dec. 2022
  • That’s partly because criminal and civil cases have different standards of proof.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Dec. 2022
  • Despite the civil court ruling, Haggis has not been criminally charged with raping Breest.
    Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2022
  • Metaverse will be built by a range of companies large and small, civil society, the public sector, and millions of individual creators.
    Quartz, 13 Dec. 2022
  • On this fall afternoon, on eve of a presidential election that is too close to call, the Queens native is bracing for civil unrest regardless of the outcome.
    Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 2 Nov. 2024
  • Regardless of election results, there will be heavy emotions and potential for civil unrest, which can cause significant concern for marginalized groups.
    Essence, 4 Nov. 2024
  • Sluggish vote counts could fuel distrust in the election, spark lawsuits and even civil unrest, and paralyze both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
    Mike Allen, Axios, 4 Nov. 2024
  • The Texas Supreme Court is the highest court in the state that rules on civil cases.
    Bethany Blankley | The Center Square Contributor, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 6 Oct. 2024
  • It’s put aside the rule of law and civil behavior in favor of shock troops.
    Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 31 July 2024
  • Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long.
    WSJ, 22 Dec. 2023
  • Silva's ex-wife is not named as a defendant in the civil suit.
    Alexandra Hutzler, ABC News, 11 Mar. 2023
  • The Married to the Mob streetwear founder has also since shared a lengthy statement about her decision to file a civil suit.
    Stephanie Wenger, Peoplemag, 8 Mar. 2024
  • O’Donnell promised that the state would protect him in civil court, Donnelly-Taylor and one of his lawyers have said.
    Brian Amaral, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Jan. 2023
  • Violators would have faced civil penalties and a fine of up to $5,000 by the State Police.
    CBS News, 13 Sep. 2023
  • The noise of democracy is not agreement, isn’t civil, is not a common ground.
    Jasmine Liu, The New Republic, 21 Apr. 2023
  • There is not a full civil trial that is used, for example.
    Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2023
  • The Siglers filed for bankruptcy in 2020 amid the civil court proceedings.
    Tess Williams, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Dec. 2022
  • That is a job for the civil justice system, the prosecutor said in a press release.
    Morgan Womack, The Indianapolis Star, 10 July 2023
  • But Fred continued to take comfort in the civil suit verdict.
    Hilary Lewis, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Apr. 2024
  • Trump has said the case – and all his criminal and civil cases – are intended to harm his prospects in the 2024 election.
    Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024
  • The former president faces more than a half-a-billion dollars in civil judgements against him in the past month alone.
    Virginia Chamlee, Peoplemag, 26 Feb. 2024
  • Former President Trump is expected to take the stand this week in the civil fraud trial in New York.
    Nbc Universal, NBC News, 5 Nov. 2023
  • Scheffler’s lawyer threatened to file a civil suit against the department.
    Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 3 June 2024
  • In August 2021, a judge in the United States allowed a civil lawsuit brought by Giuffre to proceed.
    Max Taylor, NBC News, 5 May 2023
  • The woman filed a civil lawsuit against McGregor in 2021.
    Safid Deen, USA TODAY, 15 June 2023
  • Both were filed in late March to fall within the two-year window Alaska requires for civil lawsuits like these.
    Zaz Hollander, Anchorage Daily News, 8 Apr. 2023
  • After that case ended with Spacey’s acquittal on all charges, the actor’s lawyers failed to file his defense in the civil suit on time.
    Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 7 May 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'civil.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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