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• Third World
  Third World

  noun

  the underdeveloped nations of the world, especially those with widespread poverty.
• third world
  third world

  Underdeveloped or developing countries, as in The conditions in our poorest rural areas resemble those in the third world. This expression originated in the mid-1900s, at first denoting those countries in Asia and Africa that were not aligned with either the Communist bloc nations or the non-Communist Western nations. Because they were for the most part poor and underdeveloped, the term was transferred to all countries with those characteristics, and later still to poorer groups within a larger prevailing culture.

Third World

American  

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

1. the underdeveloped nations of the world, especially those with widespread poverty.

2. the group of developing nations, especially of Asia and Africa, that do not align themselves with the policies of either the U.S. or the former Soviet Union.

3. the minority groups within a nation or predominant culture.

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Third World British  

noun

1. Also called: developing world.  the less economically advanced countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America collectively, esp when viewed as underdeveloped and as neutral in the East-West alignment

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Third World Cultural  

1. The nonaligned nations — which are often developing nations — of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. They are in a “third” group of nations because they were allied neither with the United States nor with the former Soviet Union.

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third world Idioms  

1. Underdeveloped or developing countries, as in The conditions in our poorest rural areas resemble those in the third world. This expression originated in the mid-1900s, at first denoting those countries in Asia and Africa that were not aligned with either the Communist bloc nations or the non-Communist Western nations. Because they were for the most part poor and underdeveloped, the term was transferred to all countries with those characteristics, and later still to poorer groups within a larger prevailing culture.

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Compare meaning

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

• First World vs. Third World

Example Sentences

In November 2024, Koguan said he was “no longer all-in-Tesla” and began acquiring Treasury bills, citing his fear of a “1929 type stock market crash” and a potential third world war.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 4, 2026

Two-time defending champion Kim, 25, has dominated women's halfpipe since the 2022 Beijing Games, winning X Games gold in 2024 and 2025 and claiming her third world championship title last year.

From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026

Defending champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson said she feels "excited" to resume her bid for a third world heptathlon title after putting herself into medal contention in Tokyo.

From BBC • Sep. 19, 2025

Three years later, U2 lead singer Bono, singer-songwriter Bob Geldof and Jones met with Pope John Paul II as part of an effort to erase the debt load shouldered by third world nations.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 2024

The central plateau was his roots as an epidemiologist and a clinician, and a model of how a committed staff on a limited budget could raise the standard of health in the third world.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French