First World
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of First World
First recorded in 1970–75
Compare meaning
How does first-world compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
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
As the poet William Butler Yeats observed after the end of the First World War, the center is not holding, while the best lack all conviction.
From Salon ● Nov. 10, 2025
Today, Third World countries are doing their best to catch up with the First World by acquiring the latter’s technological and agricultural advantages.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
