Gestapo

[guh-stah-poh, guh-shtah-poh]

noun

1. the German state secret police during the Nazi regime, organized in 1933 and notorious for its brutal methods and operations.

adjective

1. (sometimes lowercase),  of or resembling the Nazi Gestapo, especially in the brutal suppression of opposition.

   The new regime is using gestapo tactics.

Gestapo

/ ɡɛˈstɑːpəʊ, ɡeˈʃtaːpo /

noun

1. the secret state police in Nazi Germany, noted for its brutal methods of interrogation

Gestapo

1. The secret police of the Third Reich in Germany. The Gestapo operated against Germans suspected of treason by using brutal interrogation and torture; they instilled widespread fear by their terrorist methods.

Figuratively, any brutal secret police organization may be called a “gestapo.”

“Gestapo tactics” in general are intimidating official procedures.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gestapo¹

< German Ge ( heime ) Sta ( ats ) po ( lizei )

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gestapo¹

from German Ge ( heime ) Sta ( ats ) po ( lizei ), literally: secret state police

Example Sentences

"These incidents come after months of smears and rhetoric by activists, politicians, and the media comparing ICE law enforcement to the Nazi Gestapo, kidnappers, and the Secret Police," a senior official said at the time.

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The same file shows him referring to police as "frigging Nazis", "Gestapo" and "terrorist thugs".

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Y’all b***h about Freedom and you vote for the Gestapo.

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Alternately, his tone was infused with contempt, sarcasm or genuine sympathy for his subjects who had been victims of brutality unleashed by the Gestapo or secret police of the Vichy regime.

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"I think this is almost a Gestapo nation right now — that people are going to take you out of your homes, out of your school, out of your jobs, whatever. This is not America."

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