How to Use civilization in a Sentence

civilization

noun
  • We are studying ancient Greek civilization.
  • North of the cape was civilization and the cities of light.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 2 June 2026
  • Do it for the sake of our civilization.
    — Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Sun and rain and bush had made the site look old, like the site of a dead civilization.
    — Howard W. French, The New York Review of Books, 29 Nov. 2022
  • No sign of civilization has been found in any space mission so far.
    — Corinne Purtillstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2023
  • The train tracks are one of the few reminders that civilization is near.
    — Christopher Reynoldsstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2022
  • The troops, at least, had a slice of civilization and each other.
    — Sig Christenson, ExpressNews.com, 26 Nov. 2020
  • These are not the lost arts of a fallen civilization.
    — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 19 June 2026
  • Over the centuries, civilization brought leisure time and the need to fill it.
    — Tribune News Service, oregonlive, 15 Feb. 2022
  • Drink wine and look at the moon and think of all the civilizations the moon has seen passing by.
    — Tom Zoellner, SPIN, 9 Apr. 2024
  • But very soon, on the timescale of human civilization, that may change.
    — Dave S. Brody, Space.com, 26 Mar. 2025
  • Our world, our civilization is moving faster and faster and faster.
    — Eoin O'Carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Mar. 2021
  • Hence the lack of clothes that suggest civilization, hence the blood.
    — Lauren Coates, Variety, 25 Apr. 2025
  • And yet the world didn’t end, and civilization trudged onward.
    — New York Times, 11 Feb. 2022
  • The art form can be traced back to some of the oldest civilizations on the planet.
    — Christopher Parker, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Aug. 2023
  • The veil of civilization may be thin, but not all that lies behind it is savage.
    — Zachary Halaschak, Washington Examiner, 31 Mar. 2020
  • More people will be killed and the survival of our civilization is at stake.
    — ABC News, 24 July 2022
  • From a civilization that is dying to one that is being born.
    — Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
  • At some point, the man and his dogs attempted to hike back to civilization.
    — oregonlive.com, 24 July 2019
  • The only sign of civilization is the towers and their ocean sounds.
    — Matt Allyn, Popular Mechanics, 6 Feb. 2018
  • The falling ropes of the starting gate showed that these sprints were signs of civilization.
    — Janelle Peters, The Atlantic, 26 May 2017
  • In recent years, that veneer of civilization has seemed to slip away.
    — Nicholas D. Kristof, Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Was there some big calamity that wiped out the rest of them, or was their civilization always that small?
    — Paul Tassi, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2025
  • So do refugees streaming out of the wreckage, and so do civilizations.
    — Lance Morrow, WSJ, 22 June 2018
  • Pathogens have helped shape civilization, and humans have been resilient in the face of such crises.
    — Charlotte Roberts, The Conversation, 15 June 2020
  • That is how civilizations heal.
    — Sayantani Dasgupta february 24, Literary Hub, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Now, at the end of an Age, players can choose a new civilization or stick with the old one.
    — Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 4 Feb. 2026
  • In some areas, the roads were paved, while away from civilization they were topped with a layer of small stones.
    — Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
  • The rest of us can only shake our heads and wonder about the future of civilization.
    — Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Feb. 2022
  • The resort is but a scab on the land, the veneer of civilization even thinner.
    — Joe Joyce, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 14 Mar. 2025

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