Gestapo

American  

[guh-stah-poh, guh-shtah-poh] / gəˈstɑ poʊ, gəˈʃtɑ poʊ /

noun

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

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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 British  

/ ɡɛˈstɑːpəʊ, ɡeˈʃtaːpo /

noun

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

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Gestapo Cultural  

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.

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Discover More

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

“Gestapo tactics” in general are intimidating official procedures.

Etymology

Origin of Gestapo

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

Example Sentences

We never knew whether these people had been spirited away by the Gestapo or gone into hiding before this could happen.

From Literature

“Music transports them to regions where the Gestapo can do them no harm.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Does anyone think it would have been a good idea to keep an allegedly “reformed” Gestapo in place as a postwar law enforcement agency?

From Salon

“To say the men and women of ICE are Gestapo is wrong,” Lyons said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Reckzeh had been set up as a spy and agent provocateur by the Gestapo: Thadden had been fooled by his elaborately constructed cover story.

From The Wall Street Journal