unilateral
adjective
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The world is a smaller place than it used to be, and we get uncomfortable when a single nation adopts a policy of unilateralism—that is, acting independently with little regard for what the rest of the world thinks. A unilateral invasion of another country, for instance, usually looks like a grab for power and resources. But occasionally the world welcomes a unilateral action, as when the U.S. announced unilateral nuclear-arms reductions in the early 1990s. Previously, such reductions had only happened as part of bilateral ("two-sided") agreements with the old Soviet Union. Multilateral agreements, on issues such as climate change, often involve most of the world's nations.
Examples of unilateral in a Sentence
Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 1 Jan. 2026
In short, 2025 marked the peak of unilateral Trump on the global stage.
—Ian Bremmer, Time, 28 Dec. 2025
Jacobsen said Trump shouldn’t have unilateral authority over tariffs.
—Center Square, The Washington Examiner, 27 Dec. 2025
After a month had passed with no owner found, the man said his wife made a unilateral decision to keep the dog.
—Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 22 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unilateral
Cite this Entry
“Unilateral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unilateral. Accessed 4 Jan. 2026.
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