Unlike the true fishes, sharks don't have internal bone, but instead have a cartilaginous skeleton (Chondrichthyes). Carcharidon carcharius is one of the largest species of sharks. It has a conical, relatively short snout, long gill slits and a large dorsal fin. The second dorsal fin is small, and it has a big curved caudal fin. Its pectoral fins are pointed with black marks at the end. When the shark is near the surface the dorsal fin and part of the tail are visible above the water. The dorsal surface is grey to blue-grey, while the ventral surface is white. The border between these colours is usually well defined. The grey coloration helps to camouflage the shark when approaching prey.

The teeth of the Great White are large, arrowhead-shaped and serrated. They have about 3 000 teeth at any one time. The teeth are in rows, which rotate when needed. As teeth are lost, broken or worn down, teeth that rotate into place replace them. White sharks are intelligent and have one of the largest brains for their body size of any animal - more similar to mammals than other fish. Its sense organs are outstanding and unique in the animal world. Great white's primarily use their sense of smell and are also able to sense electrical charges.

Scientists believe that the maximum length of the white shark is about 6.8m (22.3 ft). The biggest Great White ever caught was a female of 6.4meters, which was caught off Cuba in 1945. It weighed 3312 kilos and its girth reached 4.5meters.

The great white is classified in the mackerel shark family, the Lamnidae. There are four other species in this family, two mako and two porbeagle sharks. Only one of these, the shortfin mako, is common off South Africa.
Local names for the great white vary across all the linguistic groups where coastal people live, but in English-speaking countries the name “white shark” is often used, and less often, the more archaic “man-eater”. In Australia “white pointer” is common, less so is “white death”. In South Africa these terms are also used, but so is “ blue pointer” (the backs of the some great whites have a bluish sheen) or “tommy”, perhaps a reference to the old nickname for the British Army soldiers. The Afrikaans name “(Witdoodshaai)” stems from one of the lesser-used English names.

The most familiar sharks (e.g. a blacktip shark) have torpedo-like bodies, as does the great white, but it is also rather stout when compared to other sharks. The snout of the great white is short and conical. The eye is circular and solid black. The jaw teeth, especially the uppers, are broadly triangular, with fine serrations on the edges with small lateral cusps. Juveniles fewer than two meters may have some smooth-edge teeth. The five gill slit are long, and all in front of the pectoral fin. The anal and second dorsal fins are nearly rectangular in adults and very small. The tail fin support area (caudal peduncle) has a wide lateral keel that strengthens the fin’s movement. The caudal fin is crescentic (both upper and lower lobes are about the same size). The upper part of the body, roughly on a line through the eye to the pelvic fin, is dark to light grey. Below this, the body is white.

On 25 March 1996, an albino great white was caught by Mr. Gerhard Els off Boknes, Eastern Cape, in 50 m of water. Mr Els hooked the shark on a pilchard and squid-baited rig. It was determined to be the first albino of the species known to science. This individual, a juvenile female less than a year old and measuring 145 cm to the fork of the tail, was solid white with reddish eyes, as are albinos of other animals.