swastika

American  

[swos-ti-kuh, swas-] / ˈswɒs tɪ kə, ˈswæs- /

noun

• swastikas
  plural

1. 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.

2. this figure as the official emblem of the Nazi party and the Third Reich.

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swastika British  

/ ˈswɒstɪkə /

noun

1. 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

2. this symbol with clockwise arms, officially adopted in 1935 as the emblem of Nazi Germany

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• swastikaed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• swastikas
  plural

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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

swastika swastikas

Plans changed frequently during filming, including when a London suburb’s council objected to swastika flags being hung on their town hall, the people said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

Rep. Dave Taylor responded to reports that a flag bearing a swastika was spotted in his office on Wednesday, calling it “vile and deeply inappropriate.”

From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2025

Once on the island they tear down a swastika and replace it with the hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union.

From BBC ● May 7, 2025

Erich Lepier, one of the Pernkopf atlas illustrators, repeatedly included a swastika after the cursive R in his signature.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2024

At Adolf-Hitler-Platz, concentric rings of tall masts flying Olympic flags surrounded a central tower, sixty-two feet high, draped with twenty swastika flags, forming a dramatic, blood-red cylinder in the middle of the grassy square.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

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

They seized books ready for distribution that included images of swastikas, iron crosses and other Nazi symbols, an Argentine Federal Police unit said in a statement.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 13, 2023

And the ADL said swastikas were more prevalent than in previous years, with the symbols used in 792 acts of vandalism.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2023

Does it make me a bad person that I find their sympathy almost as upsetting as the swastikas that bring it on?

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman

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