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

In December 2023, Secretary Blinken concluded that members of the SAF and the RSF had committed war crimes in Sudan. —Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes, 8 Jan. 2025

Elsewhere, this gentle-seeming New Age mystic has praised Ion Antonescu, the Romanian wartime dictator who conspired with Hitler and was sentenced to death for war crimes, including his role in the Romanian Holocaust. —Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2025

Human rights groups have said Hamas’s practice of making and releasing hostage videos was inhumane treatment that could amount to a war crime. —Aaron Boxerman, New York Times, 4 Jan. 2025

Each pleaded guilty before a U.S. military commission to various war crimes, including murder, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, conspiracy and destruction of property. —Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 18 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

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.