Uncle Sam

noun

1. a personification of the government or people of the U.S.: represented as a tall, lean man with white chin whiskers, wearing a blue tailcoat, red-and-white-striped trousers, and a top hat with a band of stars.

Uncle Sam

noun

1. a personification of the government of the United States

Uncle Sam

1. A figure who stands for the government of the United States and for the United States itself. Uncle Sam — whose initials are the abbreviation of United States — is portrayed as an old man with a gray goatee who sports a top hat and Stars and Stripes clothing. During World War I and World War II, posters of Uncle Sam exhorted young men to join the armed forces. (Compare John Bull.)

Word History and Origins

Origin of Uncle Sam¹

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15; extension of the initials U.S.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Uncle Sam¹

C19: apparently a humorous interpretation of the letters stamped on army supply boxes during the War of 1812: US

Example Sentences

In it, he wears his finest Uncle Sam garb and points at viewers, issuing a statement: “Kid Rock wants YOU to support Gavin Newsom.”

From Los Angeles Times

Social media for the Department of Homeland Security, the department that oversees ICE, is packed with recruitment posts, evoking old “Uncle Sam” and World War II style artwork.

From Salon

The growing debt pile leaves some to wonder whether there is a limit to how much the rest of the world will lend Uncle Sam.

From BBC

The Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, released a poster on social media this week that depicts Uncle Sam urging people to call a hotline to “report all foreign invaders.”

From Los Angeles Times

All that brainpower would have been for naught, however, save for the beneficence of Uncle Sam.

From Los Angeles Times