Nazi

[naht-see, nat-]

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.

adjective

1. of or relating to the Nazis.

Nazi

/ 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

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Nazi¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Nazi¹

C20: from German, phonetic spelling of the first two syllables of Nationalsozialist National Socialist

Example Sentences

He was moved and endured forced labour at other camps, and finally a death march to Dachau, before his Nazi captors fled incoming American troops.

Read more on BBC

Russia — which needed 47 months to beat Nazi Germany in World War II — has made war on Ukraine for 44 months now, with no end in sight.

Read more on MarketWatch

When the Nazis chased Freud out of Vienna, he carefully packed each of his treasures and shipped them to London.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In “World Enemy No. 1,” the author charts the development of Nazi anticommunism, from its origins immediately after World War I, and the way the movement systematically targeted Jews as supposed agents of international Bolshevism.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Marine, whose European grandparents suffered from the Nazis’ rise to power and bombardments, has funded Ukrainian military startups, including drone producer Swarmer since around 2022.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal