- [only before noun] connected with the people who live in a country
- civil unrest (= that is caused by groups of people within a country)
- civil strife/conflict
- There were concerns that the economic reforms might lead to civil unrest.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- [only before noun] connected with the state rather than with religion or with the armed forces
- the recognition of civil unions for same-sex couples
- They were married in a civil ceremony.
- civil aviation
- We have called in the army to assist the civil authorities in rescue operations.
- [only before noun] involving personal legal matters and not criminal law
- a civil court
- polite in a formal way but possibly not friendly
- The less time I have to spend being civil to him the better!
Extra Examples- He said that the police were perfectly civil in their questioning.
- I don't want her around if she can't behave in a civil manner to me.
- The teachers were all perfectly civil to me.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- remain
- become
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- to
Word Originlate Middle English: via Old French from Latin civilis, from civis ‘citizen’.
Check pronunciation:
civil