war crime

American  

noun

1. Usually war crimes crimes committed against an enemy, prisoners of war, or subjects in wartime that violate international agreements or, as in the case of genocide, are offenses against humanity.

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war crime British  

noun

1. a crime committed in wartime in violation of the accepted rules and customs of war, such as genocide, ill-treatment of prisoners of war, etc

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• war criminal
  noun

Etymology

Origin of war crime

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

At the law school at Damascus University, more than 300 students attended a recent seminar addressed by international war crime legal specialists including Stephen Rapp, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues.

From Slate • May 27, 2026

Mr. Verini’s aim is a vital one: He seeks to go beyond the war crime to give shape and dimension to the everyday Ukrainians fated to become atrocity statistics at the theater.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026

The Geneva Convention makes clear that targeting civilian infrastructure is a potential war crime.

From BBC • Feb. 3, 2026

These more modern firearms became not only practical tools of war, crime or self-defense but symbolic objects in their own right.

From Salon • Sep. 16, 2025

Whether they talked about war, crime, prostitution, political corruption, or any other social evil, what they wanted was to tear down the old ramshackle structure, and to put in its place something new and intelligent.

From Jimmie Higgins by Sinclair, Upton