Ku Klux Klan

noun

ˈkü-ˈkləks-ˈklan 

 also  ˈkyü-,

 or  ˈklü-

1

: a violent secret fraternal society founded in 1915 in Georgia to maintain white Protestant cultural and political power

also : any one of more than 20 hate (see hate entry 1 sense 1c) groups that associate themselves with the Ku Klux Klan

2

: a violent post-Civil War secret society founded in Tennessee in 1866 to upend the Black political and social power that was being established during Reconstruction

Note: This Ku Klux Klan had largely dissolved by the end of the 1870s.

Examples of Ku Klux Klan in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Known for her outspoken stance against the Ku Klux Klan's prominence in the city, Morrow Cannady was also publisher of The Advocate newspaper. —Meira Gebel, Axios, 27 Feb. 2025

The flyers strewn across Lincoln Heights, a historically Black town, came from the Trinity White Knights chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office told WLWT. —Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 24 Feb. 2025

The most dramatic decline, according to Groat, was around the 1920s, near the same time the Ku Klux Klan became more active in the area. —Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 21 Feb. 2025

Forrest was a Confederate general, war criminal, slave trader in Memphis, and is widely believed to have served as the first grand wizard or leader of the Ku Klux Klan. —Chadd Scott, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1867, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for Ku Klux Klan

• businessman
• canavan
• caravan
• constantan
• dragoman
• fisherman
• handyman
• harmattan
• journeyman
• marianne
• middleman
• minivan