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First World

American  

noun

  1. the major industrialized non-Communist nations, including those in Western Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan.


Etymology

Origin of First World

First recorded in 1970–75


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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

First World nature of “Scammed” won’t be lost on any First Worlders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

His grandfather settled in Llandudno and worked as a shoe shop manager after the First World War where he had served as a dispatch rider before being injured by shrapnel.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

A French machine-gun officer in the trenches during the First World War.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026

Related: I have a ‘mundane’ First World problem: Should I buy a $30,000 bracelet during a global pandemic?

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 17, 2026

Seventy percent of the Eastern European Jews who came through Ellis Island in the thirty years or so before the First World War had some kind of occupational skill.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

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