Third World

noun

, (sometimes lowercase)

1. the underdeveloped nations of the world, especially those with widespread poverty.
2. the group of developing nations, especially of Asia and Africa, that do not align themselves with the policies of either the U.S. or the former Soviet Union.
3. the minority groups within a nation or predominant culture.

Third World

noun

1. the less economically advanced countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America collectively, esp when viewed as underdeveloped and as neutral in the East-West alignment Also calleddeveloping world

Third World

1. The nonaligned nations — which are often developing nations — of Africa , Asia , and Latin America . They are in a “third” group of nations because they were allied neither with the United States nor with the former Soviet Union .

Idioms and Phrases

Underdeveloped or developing countries, as in The conditions in our poorest rural areas resemble those in the third world . This expression originated in the mid-1900s, at first denoting those countries in Asia and Africa that were not aligned with either the Communist bloc nations or the non-Communist Western nations. Because they were for the most part poor and underdeveloped, the term was transferred to all countries with those characteristics, and later still to poorer groups within a larger prevailing culture.

Example Sentences

Three years later, U2 lead singer Bono, singer-songwriter Bob Geldof and Jones met with Pope John Paul II as part of an effort to erase the debt load shouldered by third world nations.

From Los Angeles Times

“I’ve lived in a Third World country. A lot of liberals haven’t.”

From Los Angeles Times

Freeman promptly stuck it to them with his third World Series homer, a 355-foot blast hit appropriately into the right-field bleachers.

From Los Angeles Times

Germany's Patrick Lange won the race in 7:35:53, knocking almost five minutes off Gustav Iden's 2022 course record to claim his third world title.

From BBC

Dodgers and New York Yankees, respectively, by performing at the second and third World Series games.

From Los Angeles Times