Standard Lemma guide

sit-in

adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adj

Meaning 1

Designed to be sat in.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • a sit-in kayak
  • a sit-in bath

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A peaceful form of protest in which people occupy an area and refuse to leave.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a form of civil disobedience in which demonstrators occupy seats and refuse to move

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: civil disobedience

History

Etymology

A deverbal from sit in. By surface analysis, sit + -in (protest).

Across languages

Translations

23 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: اِعْتِصَام (iʕtiṣām) — type of protest
  • Catalan: tancada — type of protest
  • Catalan: seguda — type of protest
  • Chinese Mandarin: 靜坐 /静坐 (jìngzuò) — type of protest
  • Dutch: zitprotest — type of protest
  • Finnish: istumalakko — type of protest
  • French: sit-in — type of protest
  • Georgian: გაფიცვა (gapicva) — type of protest
  • German: Sitzblockade — type of protest
  • Hungarian: ülősztrájk — type of protest
  • Japanese: 座り込み (suwarikomi) — type of protest
  • Japanese: シット・イン (shitto-in) — type of protest
  • Japanese: シット・ダウン (shitto-daun) — type of protest
  • Korean: 농성 (nongseong) — type of protest
  • Persian: تحصن (tahasson) — type of protest
  • Polish: strajk okupacyjny — type of protest
  • Portuguese: protesto sentado — type of protest
  • Russian: сидя́чая забасто́вка (sidjáčaja zabastóvka) — type of protest
  • Russian: забасто́вка по-италья́нски (zabastóvka po-italʹjánski) — type of protest
  • Spanish: encierro — type of protest
  • Spanish: sentada — type of protest
  • Swedish: sittstrejk — type of protest
  • Vietnamese: toạ kháng — type of protest