How to Use nonviolent in a Sentence

nonviolent

adjective
  • He argued that nonviolent drug offenders should receive shorter sentences.
  • While the event was nonviolent, there was some blowback.
    — William Lee, chicagotribune.com, 27 Dec. 2020
  • He had been given a life sentence for a nonviolent drug crime in 1998.
    — New York Times, 2 Jan. 2021
  • With nonviolent protests, Martin Luther King Jr. helped lead the movement to advance the rights of people of color.
    — CBS News, 31 Oct. 2022
  • The arrest rate for nonviolent crimes remained flat at 2.1%.
    — Sarah Freishtat, Chicago Tribune, 27 Dec. 2022
  • And that is what Mr. Trump and his allies were up to in 2020, through both violent and nonviolent means — and continue to be up to today.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 17 Sep. 2021
  • The crime waves are the result of a decrease in arrests for nonviolent crime due to jails and prisons being overcrowded.
    — Misty Severi, Washington Examiner, 14 Nov. 2023
  • For example, in the 1930s, populism of the left took the form of communism and that of the right took the form of fascism while nonviolent revolutionary changes took place in the US and the UK.
    — Ray Dalio, TIME, 25 June 2024
  • In the years that led up to his final crime, he was convicted of three nonviolent property crimes.
    — Ivana Hrynkiw | Ihrynkiw@al.com, al, 28 Apr. 2022
  • The teams will respond to 911 calls for nonviolent behavior crises or substance abuse help.
    — Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 15 May 2023
  • His first nonviolent protest took place many years before the civil rights movement.
    — Nicole Chavez, CNN, 28 Feb. 2021
  • Years later, it was reprinted in press outlets and King’s memoir, becoming one of the most famous texts on nonviolent protest in the world.
    — Nora McGreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Mar. 2021
  • The mob that broke into Hamilton Hall was not nonviolent, either.
    — The Editors, National Review, 2 May 2024
  • The good news is that protests, litigation and moving to new states are nonviolent actions.
    — Doyle McManuswashington Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2022
  • The group claims their actions are nonviolent, but the D.C. defendants injured a nurse while forcing their way into the clinic.
    — Garnet Henderson, ELLE, 6 May 2022
  • The Morehouse board is pushing for nonviolent protests.
    — Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, ABC News, 16 May 2024
  • In April, Biden used clemency to commute the sentences of 75 nonviolent drug offenders.
    — Michael D. Shear and, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Oct. 2022
  • With Teran described as a kind soul and proponent of nonviolent protest, some have suggested the weapon found near his body may have been planted.
    — Tyler Estep The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (tns), al, 24 Jan. 2023
  • In May 2020, Bernice called on those protesting following the murder of George Floyd to use nonviolent measures.
    — Stephanie Kaloi, Peoplemag, 12 Jan. 2023
  • But a coalition of advocacy groups that sued the state over the issue said the IDOC should free thousands more who are either old, infirm, nonviolent or near the end of their sentences.
    — Christy Gutowski, chicagotribune.com, 22 Dec. 2020
  • But both violent and nonviolent crime also fell in 2020 in Lake County, according to the study.
    — Clifford Ward, chicagotribune.com, 22 June 2021
  • The gameplay trailer also shows that the game is nonviolent, relying on puzzles to move bosses and obstacles out of the way.
    — George Yang, Wired, 17 May 2021
  • But nonviolent first-time offenders who have not been accused of using the weapon in another crime rarely get serious prison time for the charges.
    — Glenn Thrush, New York Times, 2 June 2024
  • The average for a nonviolent defendant was six to 12 months.
    — Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, 28 June 2024
  • The attorney added that most of her client’s convictions were nonviolent.
    — William Lee, chicagotribune.com, 13 Sep. 2021
  • To have to endure that for months and years and decades for nonviolent people who have no business being there in the first place — half the people in prison are nonviolent drug offenders.
    — Steve Appleford, Rolling Stone, 17 Feb. 2024
  • Cities nationwide had braced for demonstrations, but the protests were scattered and nonviolent.
    — Adrian Sainz, Chicago Tribune, 28 Jan. 2023
  • By then she had already been arrested 16 times for nonviolent crimes.
    — Sam Roberts, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2023
  • Before her commutation, Johnson, now 69 years old, had spent more than 20 years in federal prison for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense.
    — Chandelis Duster, NPR, 25 Feb. 2025
  • What to Know Johnson was sentenced to life in prison for a nonviolent drug offense after being convicted in 1996 for leading a drug ring in Memphis, Tennessee.
    — Matt Robison, Newsweek, 24 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nonviolent.' 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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