swastika
Americannoun
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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
On the reverse of the coin is a design that could be a cross or could be a swastika, then recognised as a good luck symbol, surrounded by an attempt at a Latin inscription.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 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
Anyway, at least the swastika thing is over.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
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
Lunday said the reports of labeling swastikas and nooses as divisive were “categorically false.”
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2025
In the same way, the museum has rearranged a pile of captured Nazi banners to obscure the swastikas.
From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
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
The station is swarming with German soldiers, the hated swastikas on their arms and rifles over their shoulders.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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.
