Great War

British  

noun

1. another name for World War I

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Great War Cultural  

1. A common name for World War I before a second world war broke out. (See World War II.)

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Example Sentences

And seven decades earlier, Hearts missed out on the 1915 championship, because 13 of its players abruptly left the team: They had enlisted in the Royal Scots battalion to go fight in the Great War.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

The idea of Remembrance, the forms it took, emerged in the immediate aftermath of the Great War, as it was then known.

From BBC • Nov. 10, 2025

The pair found delight at the sounds of jazz on city streets — just one influence of the Black soldiers who came to France for the Great War.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 11, 2023

Baker’s play premiered in 1917 in London, but the way it tackles the issue of work-life balance seems to speak more to the Great Resignation than to the Great War.

From New York Times • Oct. 25, 2023

Those who lived through World War I called it the Great War because of its massive scale: some two dozen countries joined the conflict, which swept across continents and killed perhaps 20 million people.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman