civil
adjective
Simple meaning
Behaving in a polite way, or related to citizens
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sivuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɪvəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
comparable
Behaving in a reasonable or polite manner; avoiding displays of hostility.
law
Of or relating to or befitting citizens as individuals
law
Relating to private relations among citizens, as opposed to criminal matters.
not comparable
Having to do with people and government office as opposed to the military or religion.
Secular.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of or relating to or befitting citizens as individuals
Used this way, civil is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use civil
- “Even if he didn't like them he should have been civil"- W.S. Maugham.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Formal or perfunctory politeness.
Having a high state of culture and development both social and technological.
Having a high state of culture and development both social and technological.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An engineer trained to design and construct and maintain public works (roads or bridges or harbors etc.).
The branch of engineering concerned with the design and construction of such public works as dams or bridges.
The body of laws established by a state or nation for its own regulation.
A leader in municipal affairs.
A libertarian who is actively concerned with the protection of civil liberties.
One's freedom to exercise one's rights as guaranteed under the laws of the country.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Associated with civil life or performed by persons who are not active members of the military.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.