Nazi

American  

[naht-see, nat-] / ˈnɑt si, ˈnæt- /

noun

plural

Nazis

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

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

Etymology

Origin of Nazi

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

Example Sentences

Every time I look at Enigma, I see Nazis marching.

From Literature

She was applauded for several minutes at the end of her speech, held as part of a special session to commemorate Nazi Germany's murder of six million European Jews during World War II.

From Barron's

It also commemorates the millions of people outside the Jewish faith who were murdered through Nazi persecution, and those targeted in more recent genocides.

From BBC

Holocaust Memorial Day is held on the same day every year, marking the liberation date of the largest Nazi concentration camp complex, Auschwitz-Birkenau, on 27 January 1945.

From BBC

An emaciated and apparently blind man stands in the snow at the Nazi concentration camp of Flossenbuerg: the image seems real at first but is part of a wave of AI-generated content about the Holocaust.

From Barron's