United Kingdom

American  

noun

1. a kingdom in NW Europe, consisting of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: formerly comprising Great Britain and Ireland 1801–1922. 94,242 sq. mi. (244,100 sq. km). London. U.K.

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United Kingdom British  

noun

1.  UK.  a kingdom of NW Europe, consisting chiefly of the island of Great Britain together with Northern Ireland: became the world's leading colonial power in the 18th century; the first country to undergo the Industrial Revolution. It became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1921, after the rest of Ireland became autonomous as the Irish Free State. Primarily it is a trading nation, the chief exports being manufactured goods; joined the Common Market (now the European Union) in January 1973. Official language: English; Gaelic, Welsh, and other minority languages. Religion: Christian majority. Currency: pound sterling. Capital: London. Pop: 63 395 574 (2013 est). Area: 244 110 sq km (94 251 sq miles) See also Great Britain

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United Kingdom Cultural  

1. Part of the official name of the British nation; the full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It includes England, Scotland, Wales, and six counties of Ireland, ruled by the king or queen of England, and represented in the nation's parliament.

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How does united-kingdom compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Great Britain vs. United Kingdom

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

United Kingdom

“They do pretty well,” said the professor, who spoke to me by phone from an infrastructure conference at Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

"I am delighted and honoured to have been asked by the prime minister to serve every part of the United Kingdom as the Minister of State for Trade," Sarwar wrote on X.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

“I’ve never before seen U.S. government funding for such groups,” said William Allchorn, a senior research fellow at Anglia Ruskin University and an expert on radical-right extremism in the United Kingdom.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

The collaboration brought together specialists from Japan, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026

Even in powerful nations like the United States and the United Kingdom, only the very elite—or the incredibly determined—could learn to fly.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein