British Empire

NOUN

british commonwealth of nations

Synonyms

WEAK

Britain Commonwealth of Nations England United Kingdom perfidious Albion the Commonwealth

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The war was fought between 1899 and 1902 between the British Empire and the two independent Boer states who were vying for control of South Africa.

From BBC • May 12, 2026

Ancient, patriarchal and oracular, Tennyson was not merely the poet laureate of England; he was, like his queen, a symbol of the British Empire.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

The stolen items were from the collection of the former British Empire & Commonwealth Museum, which was donated to the Bristol Museum after its liquidation in 2013.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026

The family history is enmeshed with the British Empire.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 25, 2025

All these things—the flags, the pitch pipe songs, the British Empire and the princesses, the war orphans, even the strappings —are superimposed against the ominous navy-blue background of Miss Lumley’s invisible bloomers.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood