Definition of War Crime
(noun) Any criminal action carried out during war time that violates codes of conduct or conventions of warfare, typically referring to violations of the Geneva Conventions.
War Crime Pronunciation
Syllabification: war crime
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /wOR krIEm/
- British English – /wAW krIEm/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /wɔr kraɪm/
- British English – /wɔː kraɪm/
Usage Notes
- Plural: war crimes
- A type of crime.
- An individual who commits a war crime is a (noun) war criminal.
Additional Information
- Crime and Law Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Politics and Policy Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “war” and “crime” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Briggs, Steven M., and Joan Friedman. 2009. Criminology For Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged. 6th ed. 2003. Glasgow, Scotland: Collins.
Siegel, Larry J., and Clemens Bartollas. 2011. Corrections Today. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Siegel, Larry J., and John L. Worrall. 2012. Introduction to Criminal Justice. 13th ed. Belmont: CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Siegel, Larry J., and John L. Worrall. 2013. Essentials of Criminal Justice. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Taylor & Francis. (N.d.) Routledge Handbooks Online. (https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/).
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Wiley. (N.d.) Wiley Online Library. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/).
Cite the Definition of War Crime
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “war crime.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 28, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/war-crime/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
war crime. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/war-crime/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “war crime.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 28, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/war-crime/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“war crime.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/war-crime/>.