war crime

noun

: a crime (such as genocide or maltreatment of prisoners) committed during or in connection with war
usually used in plural
war criminal noun

Examples of war crime in a Sentence

He was found guilty of torture and other war crimes.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Some had argued that removing the civilian population from Gaza is a war crime. David Friedman, Newsweek, 10 Feb. 2025 Despite racially discriminatory laws barring him from enlisting (and gaining citizenship), Josiah nonetheless joins an élite parachuting battalion and intervenes to prevent war crimes. The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025 An occupying power’s transfer of its population to occupied territory is a war crime, in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, but successive Israeli governments have ignored that prohibition, and the U.S. government has kept billions of dollars of aid flowing anyway. Kenneth Roth, TIME, 8 Feb. 2025 The United States participated in negotiations that led to the adoption of the Rome Statute that established the court as a tribunal of last resort to prosecute the world’s worst atrocities — war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide — if individual governments did not take action. Darlene Superville, Chicago Tribune, 7 Feb. 2025 See all Example Sentences for war crime 

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of war crime was in 1906

Dictionary Entries Near war crime

Cite this Entry

“War crime.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/war%20crime. Accessed 18 Feb. 2025.

Legal Definition

war crime

noun
: an act committed usually during an international war for which individual criminal liability will be imposed by a domestic or international tribunal
specifically : a violation of the laws or customs of war as embodied or recognized by international treaty, court decisions, or established practice
usually used in pl.

Note: Following World War II, the Charter of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg first codified war crimes including crimes against humanity. Also encompassed in the legal concept of war crimes is the crime of planning or waging a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties.

More from Merriam-Webster on war crime

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