Great Power

American  

noun

1. a nation that has exceptional military and economic strength, and consequently plays a major, often decisive, role in international affairs.

---

Great Power British  

noun

1. a nation that has exceptional political influence, resources, and military strength

---

Other Word Forms

• Great-Power adjective
• great-power adjective

Etymology

Origin of Great Power

First recorded in 1725–35

Example Sentences

She has a like-minded peer in Carney who, in a speech in Davos in January, described a doctrine of middle powers uniting amid a shifting world order, to not become passive victims of great power rivalry.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The common sense of mankind demands that law shall not stop with the punishment of petty crimes by little people. It must also reach men who possess themselves of great power.”

From Salon

Air Force Academy and author of a book on great power competition in the polar regions.

From The Wall Street Journal

A great power like China or the U.S. “utilizes the dependencies of others and, if need be, takes advantage of them,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Munich.

From The Wall Street Journal

As Roberts wrote, the Framers viewed taxation as “the one great power upon which the whole national fabric is based.”

From Slate