Nazi

American  

[naht-see, nat-] / ˈnɑt si, ˈnæt- /

noun

Nazis plural

1. a member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, which controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945 under Adolf Hitler and advocated totalitarian government, territorial expansion, antisemitism, and Aryan supremacy, all these leading directly to World War II and the Holocaust.

2. (often lowercase) a person elsewhere who holds similar views.

3. (often lowercase) a person who is fanatically dedicated to or seeks to regulate a specified activity, practice, etc..

   a jazz nazi who disdains other forms of music;

   health nazis trying to ban junk food.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Nazis.

Nazi British  

/ ˈnɑːtsɪ, ˈnɑːtsɪˌɪzəm, ˈnɑːtˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. a member of the fascist National Socialist German Workers' Party, which was founded in 1919 and seized political control in Germany in 1933 under Adolf Hitler

2. derogatory anyone who thinks or acts like a Nazi, esp showing racism, brutality, etc

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adjective

1. of, characteristic of, or relating to the Nazis

Sensitive Note

Nazi in the extended sense of “a fanatical or domineering person” has existed at least since 1980 and parallels the use of the word police in the language police/the grammar police . Though this usage of Nazi is usually intended as jocular, it implies being intolerant of other people’s views and practices. And many people consider any extended use of the word Nazi to be offensive, in that it trivializes the terrible crimes of the German Nazis.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Nazism
  noun
• pro-Nazi
  adjective
• anti-Nazi
  adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

• Nazis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Nazi

First recorded in 1930–35; from German Nazi, short for Nationalsozialist “National Socialist”

Example Sentences

And he is angry at allegations that a Nazi salute was seen at one banquet.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

He has also been an international champion of his “recovered voices” project, salvaging the neglected operas of composers in the first half of the 20th century who were silenced by Nazi Germany.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

Recent polls have shown that an implausibly high percentage of Germans -- between 11 and 18 percent -- think their grandparents tried to help those being persecuted by the Nazi regime, Spohr noted.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

From here, much of the novel dwells on Günter’s terror and paralysis as the Nazi Party wrests control of Germany.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026

“And replica Enigmas. Can you imagine if that kit had fallen into Nazi hands?”

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin