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war crime

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

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: war crime

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

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

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 September 30, 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 September 30, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/war-crime/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“war crime.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 30 Sep. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/war-crime/>.