How to Use civilized in a Sentence

civilized

adjective
  • Try to act like a civilized human being!
  • Stop yelling. We have to be more civilized about this.
  • A civilized society must respond to crime with fairness and justice.
  • It was hanged, on the premise that this was the most civilized method.
    Ian Parker, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2017
  • Bring a picnic lunch or have a civilized tea in one of the shops.
    Jackie Burrell, The Mercury News, 13 Jan. 2017
  • Hong Kong deserves the support of the U.S. and the civilized world, but that alone will not be enough.
    Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, 31 July 2019
  • Are these flies just stoned and don’t know that their rightful place is not among the civilized?
    Brian Moylan, Vulture, 22 Dec. 2021
  • Hunters, for the most part, have become a bit more civilized, at least on the surface.
    John Schandelmeier, Alaska Dispatch News, 15 Aug. 2017
  • The killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is great news for the civilized world.
    Brett McGurk, The Denver Post, 28 Oct. 2019
  • The origins of policing date back to ancient Egypt and spread across the civilized world in many forms.
    USA Today, 1 Oct. 2020
  • While Liggett gets up at a civilized time, Roll’s alarm is set for a ghastly 3:45 a.m.
    Jason Gay, WSJ, 3 Sep. 2020
  • On the one hand, a hallmark of civilized thought is the sense that every life is precious.
    Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2022
  • The film based on real-life outlaws is set at a time when the west starts to become more civilized.
    Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Jan. 2023
  • The 100-seat patio is roomy but civilized, with proper tables and chairs on the deck.
    Emma Balter, Chron, 6 May 2022
  • For Biden, the contrasts include one that now pits Russia against much if not most of the civilized world.
    Rick Klein, ABC News, 1 Mar. 2022
  • Now is the time for the civilized world to respond firmly to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
    Andrii Smyrnov, Time, 23 Sep. 2022
  • This is how a civilized society deals with a man in such a state of terror?
    Arkansas Online, 5 Dec. 2022
  • Egypt has long been the most important — some would argue the most civilized — country in the Arab world.
    Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 20 Oct. 2020
  • Each of these stages was more productive and more civilized than the last, but also less equal and less free.
    George Scialabba, The New Republic, 1 Nov. 2021
  • With that in mind, this still isn't a civilized everyday two-seater.
    John Pearley Huffman, Car and Driver, 24 May 2021
  • Following the update given to the more civilized Elantra sedan the Elantra N is based on, the 2024 model gets new duds.
    Car and Driver, 19 Apr. 2023
  • Han is a character who doesn’t fit — or want to fit — into the civilized world.
    Andrew Liptak, The Verge, 21 Apr. 2018
  • Truth is, trash fish, or rough fish, often save the day when more civilized species like bass and trout won’t co-oper-ate.
    Will Brantley, Field & Stream, 2 Aug. 2019
  • At a very civilized dinner aboard one of the ships, at a table with two admirals and Maj.
    Austin Murphy, SI.com, 4 July 2017
  • And for those wanting M speed in a more civilized car, an Alpina B8 is a near certainty as well.
    Steve Siler, Car and Driver, 8 Sep. 2017
  • And for those wanting M speed in a more civilized car, an Alpina B8 is a near certainty as well.
    Jens Meiners, Car and Driver, 26 July 2017
  • Stars like her civilized approach to the divorce process.
    Christian Allaire, Vogue, 21 Feb. 2021
  • Ukraine, with the support of the civilized world, must bring the missile terrorists to justice.
    Anders Hagstrom, Fox News, 10 Oct. 2022
  • In many places, it’s considered one of the basic arts that every civilized person should know.
    Sean Illing, Vox, 22 Sep. 2024
  • What starts as a civilized family reunion quickly turns to chaos as no consensus can be reached.
    John Hopewell, Variety, 21 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'civilized.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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