How to use civil in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective

Civil means having to do with people and government office as opposed to the military or religion. Example: “She went into civil service because she wanted to help the people.”

Examples of civil by meaning

adjectiveHaving to do with people and government office as opposed to the military or religion.

She went into civil service because she wanted to help the people.

adjectiveBehaving in a reasonable or polite manner; avoiding displays of hostility.

It was very civil of him to stop the argument.
They despise each other, but they are always civil in public.

adjectiveRelating to private relations among citizens, as opposed to criminal matters.

a civil case

adjectiveSecular.

The word from which "evil" in Romans 13.4 is translated means "generally opposed to civil goodness or virtue, in a commonwealth, and not to spiritual good, or religion, in the church.2008, Jerald Finney, God Betrayed, →ISBN, page 174
Some grammarians explain this passage as referring to a civil sanctity, in respect of the children being reckoned legitimate, but in this respect the condition of unbelievers is in no degree worse.2013, John Calvin, Calvin's Complete Commentary, Volume 7: Acts to Ephesians

More sentences with civil

He’s a real history buff. He knows everything there is to know about the civil war.From the entry buff
She was bent about "certain kinds of people" having civil rights; she wanted to roll those back.From the entry bent
As civil war continues in Iraq, the U.S. president's approval ratings are in freefall.From the entry freefall
At that time the administration replaced the system of patronage in the civil service with a bureaucracy.From the entry bureaucracy
Such corruption is commonplace in a world of supine civil servants and underfunded ministries.From the entry supine
Monarchies where partition isn't prohibited risk weakening through parcellation and civil wars between the heirs.From the entry partition
It began with the familiar political motives of civil service rationalization and downsizing.From the entry rationalization
The movement strove to put women under the protective mantle of civil rights laws.From the entry mantle
The inequality in living standards led to a civil war as the have-nots rebelled.From the entry inequality
After the divorce, she was civil but frosty to her ex.From the entry frosty
The slaying of the civil rights activist brought a storm of protest.From the entry slaying
The plaintiff claimed that under color of law the officer had deprived him of his civil rights.From the entry color of law
Similar to members of parliaments, members of Congress are civil servants.From the entry member of parliament
The army officer was seconded while he held civil office.From the entry second
Civil dissensions often spirit the ambition of private men.From the entry spirit
She's too quarrelsome to participate in a civil conversation.From the entry quarrelsome
The law was a recognition of their civil rights.From the entry recognition
His championship of civil rights eventually bore fruit.From the entry championship
The breakaway republic is slowly establishing order and civil society.From the entry breakaway
In the history of lighthouses, English civil engineer John Smeaton made a significant contribution to the design of them.From the entry lighthouse
The farmer's field was a civil war battleground, and relics such a minnie bullets were frequently found while plowing.From the entry battleground
The U.S. civil war can be considered a sectional dispute.From the entry sectional
Troops will move in if the civil unrest continues.From the entry move in
The civil celebrant married the man to his wife.From the entry civil celebrant
The escalating protests resulted in widespread civil unrest.From the entry result in
Nowadays there are all kinds of potential parentals besides parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, step-parents, in-laws, older siblings and cousins, and those in civil unions.From the entry parental
The Supreme Court of Canada is a bijural court that deals with both Quebec civil law and the common law used in the rest of the country.From the entry civil law
“Fascists need to crush civil society orgs because they are a bulwark of liberalism.2025 April 17, Zane McNeill, “DOGE Aims to Embed Agents in All Nonprofits That Receive Federal Funds”, in Truthout, archived from the…. From the entry org
They democratize access to power and institutions while defending civil liberties,” Caraballo said on Bluesky.2025 April 17, Zane McNeill, “DOGE Aims to Embed Agents in All Nonprofits That Receive Federal Funds”, in Truthout, archived from the…. From the entry org
And the civil servants rotate through the departments with similar speed.2023 June 28, Anthony Smith talks to Paul Clifton, “The industry has to go back to basics”, in RAIL, number 986, page 40. From the entry revolving door
The principle of civil procedure means that only two parties can participate in the process.2023, Jacek Gordon, English in Law. From the entry assession
Civil engineering remains a large market segment for spunbonds accounting for over 25% of the total sales.2022, S. J. Russell, Handbook of Nonwovens, page 246. From the entry spunbond
This requires a compact between politicians working as a cabinet and a quasi-independent civil service.2020 July 20, Simon Jenkins, “Britain deserves better than an Old Etonian Donald Trump”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 12…. From the entry quasi-
“I guess,” said Horace at this point, “you'd best speak civil of Miss Strode.2020, Fergus Hume, The Wooden Hand, page 168. From the entry 'd best

Meaning of civil

adjective Having to do with people and government office as opposed to the military or religion.
adjective Behaving in a reasonable or polite manner; avoiding displays of hostility.
adjective In a peaceful and well-ordered state.

Full definition of civil

Questions about civil in a sentence

How do you use civil in a sentence?: Civil is used as an adjective. For example: “She went into civil service because she wanted to help the people.”
What is a short sentence with civil?: “a civil case”
What does civil mean?: Civil means having to do with people and government office as opposed to the military or religion.

Adapted from Wiktionary: civil (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use civil in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/civil. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.