kamikaze

American  

[kah-mi-kah-zee] / ˌkɑ mɪˈkɑ zi /

noun

• kamikazes
  plural

1. (during World War II) a member of a special corps in the Japanese air force charged with the suicidal mission of crashing an aircraft laden with explosives into an enemy target, especially a warship.

2. an airplane used for this purpose.

3. a person or thing that behaves in a wildly reckless or destructive manner.

   We were nearly run down by a kamikaze on a motorcycle.

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adjective

1. of, pertaining to, undertaken by, or characteristic of a kamikaze.

   a kamikaze pilot; a kamikaze attack.

kamikaze British  

/ ˌkæmɪˈkɑːzɪ /

noun

1. (in World War II) one of a group of Japanese pilots who performed suicidal missions by crashing their aircraft, loaded with explosives, into an enemy target, esp a ship

2. an aircraft used for such a mission

3. (modifier) (of an action) undertaken or (of a person) undertaking an action in the knowledge that it will result in the death of the person performing it in order that maximum damage may be inflicted on an enemy

   a kamikaze attack

   a kamikaze bomber

4. (modifier) extremely foolhardy and possibly self-defeating

   kamikaze pricing

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kamikaze Cultural  

1. Japanese fighter pilots in World War II, trained to make suicide crashes into Allied ships.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• kamikazes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of kamikaze

1940–45; < Japanese, equivalent to kami ( y ) god (earlier *kamui ) + kaze wind (earlier *kanzai

Explanation

A kamikaze is a word for either the pilot or the plane used in suicide missions by the Japanese in World War II. Any job in combat is difficult and could result in death, but one duty is considerably riskier than others: being a kamikaze. These Japanese pilots engaged in suicide missions: their goal was not only to harm the enemy, but they sacrificed their lives while doing so, crashing their planes. A kamikaze could be the pilot or the plane, and you can also speak of kamikaze missions. Today, the word is sometimes used for any situation that seems suicidal or risky.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kamikaze kamikazes

"He's really off his head. He doesn't care... he is kamikaze."

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

American drone boats attacked an Iranian submarine and ship facility at a naval base located on the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month in a kamikaze mission.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

At various points while watching “Louis C.K.: Ridiculous,” my mind wandered back to the many times such kamikaze socializing missions were thrust upon me when I was a kid.

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026

An Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drone costs roughly $35,000 to manufacture.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 13, 2026

On December 7, 1941, Japanese kamikaze fighter planes, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

After the ship was struck by two kamikazes near Okinawa and began to sink, Meyers jumped into the water.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2021

I think there’s a myth about entrepreneurs that they are kamikazes, that they leap out of airplanes without parachutes.

From Slate ● Aug. 29, 2020

These are members of our Greatest Generation that survived Nazi snipers and Japanese kamikazes, but were lost to a virus.

From Fox News ● May 12, 2020

In May 1945, he navigated the Sullivans alongside the burning hulk of the Bunker Hill, an aircraft carrier that had been struck by two kamikazes.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 18, 2019

Before February of 1945, the ordinary American people didn’t know about kamikazes.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac