Nazi

American  

[naht-see, nat-] / ˈnɑt si, ˈnæt- /

noun

plural

Nazis

1. a member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, which controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945 under Adolf Hitler and advocated totalitarian government, territorial expansion, antisemitism, and Aryan supremacy, all these leading directly to World War II and the Holocaust.

2. (often lowercase) a person elsewhere who holds similar views.

3. (often lowercase) a person who is fanatically dedicated to or seeks to regulate a specified activity, practice, etc..

   a jazz nazi who disdains other forms of music;

   health nazis trying to ban junk food.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Nazis.

Nazi British  

/ ˈnɑːtsɪ, ˈnɑːtsɪˌɪzəm, ˈnɑːtˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. a member of the fascist National Socialist German Workers' Party, which was founded in 1919 and seized political control in Germany in 1933 under Adolf Hitler

2. derogatory anyone who thinks or acts like a Nazi, esp showing racism, brutality, etc

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adjective

1. of, characteristic of, or relating to the Nazis

Sensitive Note

Nazi in the extended sense of “a fanatical or domineering person” has existed at least since 1980 and parallels the use of the word police in the language police/the grammar police . Though this usage of Nazi is usually intended as jocular, it implies being intolerant of other people’s views and practices. And many people consider any extended use of the word Nazi to be offensive, in that it trivializes the terrible crimes of the German Nazis.

Other Word Forms

• Nazism noun
• anti-Nazi adjective
• pro-Nazi adjective

Etymology

Origin of Nazi

First recorded in 1930–35; from German Nazi, short for Nationalsozialist “National Socialist”

Example Sentences

"In history last year we did the Bolsheviks and Nazi Germany, and then you can sort of forget about that and then focus in on what we're doing this year," Ailbhe said.

From BBC

The Greek culture ministry said it was "highly likely" that the photographs were taken by Guenther Heysing, a journalist attached to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels's unit.

From Barron's

The term carried an especially chilling, historical weight at a conference held in Germany; Nazis had used it in their aggressive propaganda campaign against Jews, Communists and others the government wanted to demonize.

From Salon

“Almost every European country, with the exception of Nazi Germany,” he writes, “boasted a larger number of Communists as a proportion of their overall population than any province in China.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Jesse Owens, an African-American track and field athlete, won four gold medals at the 1936 Games, crushing the Nazi myth of Aryan racial supremacy.

From BBC