Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective peacefully resistant in response to injustice; not using violence; -- used of protests and demonstrations. Opposite of violent.
  • adjective achieved without bloodshed. Contrasted with bloody.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not violent; without violence; following a philosophy of nonviolence; the opposite of violent

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective abstaining (on principle) from the use of violence
  • adjective achieved without bloodshed

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

non- +‎ violent

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Examples

  • They reject the term nonviolent for the recent demonstrations because the marches usually include stone-throwing and attempts to damage the separation barrier.

    NYT > Global Home By ETHAN BRONNER 2010

  • They reject the term nonviolent for the recent demonstrations because the marches usually include stone-throwing and attempts to damage the separation barrier.

    NYT > Home Page By ETHAN BRONNER 2010

  • In a telephone interview with The New York Times she made it clear that now she was free she intended to lead what she called a nonviolent revolution, rather than an incremental evolution.

    Jamyang Norbu: Seeking the Power of the Powerless Jamyang Norbu 2011

  • In a telephone interview with The New York Times she made it clear that now she was free she intended to lead what she called a nonviolent revolution, rather than an incremental evolution.

    Jamyang Norbu: Seeking the Power of the Powerless Jamyang Norbu 2011

  • The bus riders refused to show their documentation and, according to their spokeswoman, engaged in what they call nonviolent resistance.

    CNN Transcript Sep 26, 2003 2003

  • In King's vision of the campaign, thousands of Americans who had been abandoned by the economy would create a tent city on the National Mall, demand action from Congress, and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience until their voices were heard.

    Mike Green: Innovation Crisis in Black America Pt. 4: 20th vs 21st century ideology Mike Green 2010

  • Many of us routinely participate in nonviolent resistance and support those for whom this is their only mode of opposition.

    Do "movements to bring about social and environmental justice always fail?" John Storhm 2009

  • Many of us routinely participate in nonviolent resistance and support those for whom this is their only mode of opposition.

    Archive 2009-03-01 John Storhm 2009

  • In King's vision of the campaign, thousands of Americans who had been abandoned by the economy would create a tent city on the National Mall, demand action from Congress, and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience until their voices were heard.

    Mike Green: Innovation Crisis in Black America Pt. 4: 20th vs 21st century ideology Mike Green 2010

  • In King's vision of the campaign, thousands of Americans who had been abandoned by the economy would create a tent city on the National Mall, demand action from Congress, and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience until their voices were heard.

    Mike Green: Innovation Crisis in Black America Pt. 4: 20th vs 21st century ideology Mike Green 2010

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