Clausewitz

American

[klou-zuh-vits] / ˈklaʊ zə vɪts /

noun

Karl von 1780–1831, German military officer and author of books on military science.

Clausewitz British

/ ˈklauzəvɪts /

noun

Karl von (karl fɔn). 1780–1831, Prussian general, noted for his works on military strategy, esp Vom Kriege (1833)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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Clausewitz

But wars are also projections beyond the border of political contests at home, to rephrase the great Clausewitz.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

Clausewitz might have enjoyed seeing how this “creative spirit” has evolved in our era.

From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2026

As Carl von Clausewitz famously put it, war is the continuation of politics by other means.

From Slate ● Mar. 10, 2026

The next day, when the delivery arrived at the nearby Clausewitz Barracks, the ammunition was found to be missing.

From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025

From his own experiences in Vietnam and his reading of the German military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, Van Riper became convinced that war was inherently unpredictable and messy and nonlinear.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023