Far East

American

noun

Older Use. the countries of East Asia, including China, Japan, Korea, and sometimes adjacent areas.

Far East British

noun

the countries of E Asia, usually including China, Japan, North and South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines: sometimes extended to include all territories east of Afghanistan

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Far East Cultural

Popular expression for the east Asian nations of China, Japan, North Korea and South Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan.

Other Word Forms

Far Eastern adjective

Etymology

Origin of Far East

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

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.

"War surcharges have caused rates from the Far East to the Middle East Gulf and Red Sea to spike by nearly 200 percent" from February 20 to March 20, it said in a report.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

“If any crime has been committed in this war, it is men like me—the leaders—who are guilty,” he said at the conclusion of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in 1948.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

In contrast, Aphaneramma fossils have been discovered in rocks of similar age in Svalbard in the Scandinavian Arctic, the Russian Far East, Pakistan, and Madagascar.

From Science Daily • Feb. 25, 2026

So we had to sell our home to be able to afford to come to the Far East to get cheaper treatment.

From BBC • Feb. 10, 2026

They were going to subjugate all of the Far East.

From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023