swastika
Americannoun
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swastikas
plural
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a figure used as a symbol or an ornament in the Old World and in America since prehistoric times, consisting of a cross with arms of equal length, each arm having a continuation at right angles.
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this figure as the official emblem of the Nazi party and the Third Reich.
noun
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a primitive religious symbol or ornament in the shape of a Greek cross, usually having the ends of the arms bent at right angles in either a clockwise or anticlockwise direction
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this symbol with clockwise arms, officially adopted in 1935 as the emblem of Nazi Germany
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of swastika
1850–55; < Sanskrit svastika, equivalent to su- good, well (cognate with Greek eu- eu- ) + as- be ( see is) + -ti- abstract noun suffix + -ka secondary noun suffix
Vocabulary lists containing swastika
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called the policy “absolutely horrific,” while Sen. Catherine Cortez Mastro, D-Nev., said the swastika is “a hate symbol, plain and simple.”
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2025
While browsing a map of Madrid from 1940, Mr. Cheshire spotted a stamp in the top-left corner identifying its provenance: a black swastika.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
In 2017, she was interviewed by a local TV station after her school in Kansas was vandalised with a Nazi swastika.
From BBC ● May 22, 2025
For example, the swastika can be merely a benign ancient Hindu symbol.
From Slate ● May 28, 2024
So the next time we saw a swastika spray painted on a wall or newspaper stand we could represent ourselves, the Freedom Writers, without destroying property.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
Julie Menin, speaker of the New York City Council, wrote on social media that "multiple synagogues and private homes in Queens were vandalized overnight with swastikas and other antisemitic graffiti."
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
The Coast Guard had signed off on a policy on November 13 that downgraded the classification of symbols such as swastikas and nooses, according to a report from the Washington Post.
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2025
The idea was the result of Greek-German cooperation ahead of the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany, which were heavy on fanfare — and swastikas.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 15, 2024
In the video, the family is seen taking a bucket of chalk to draw over the swastikas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
Then the American athletes marched down the platform, past a looming black locomotive with swastikas emblazoned on its sides.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
