Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

first world

noun, often capitalized F&W

Definition of first world 

: the highly developed industrialized nations often considered the westernized countries of the world

First Known Use of first world

1967, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for first world

after third world

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about first world

Share first world

Statistics for first world

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for first world

The first known use of first world was in 1967

See more words from the same year

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for first world

first world

noun

English Language Learners Definition of first world

: the countries of the world that have many industries and relatively few poor people : the rich nations of the world

See the full definition for first world in the English Language Learners Dictionary

More from Merriam-Webster on first world

See words that rhyme with first world

Comments on first world

What made you want to look up first world? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Show Comments  Hide Comments 

WORD OF THE DAY

chapel

a private place of worship

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Difficult Vocab Quiz

  • the-education-of-achilles-eugne-delacroix
  • Which is a synonym of discomfit?
True or False

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Syn City

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games