Nazi

American  

[naht-see, nat-] / ˈnɑt si, ˈnæt- /

noun

Nazis plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

noun

• Nazis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Nazi

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

Example Sentences

After the Reddit posts and the Nazi tattoo, he said, he had no “big, dark secret” left to conceal.

From Slate • Jun. 2, 2026

In January, he took out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal in which he said he was "not a Nazi or an antisemite", adding: "I love Jewish people."

From Barron's • May 31, 2026

He then retracted the comments, saying he was "not denying the existence of the camps or the systematic murder carried out by the Nazi regime".

From BBC • May 23, 2026

All that’s left are defensive denials, evasions of Nazi collaboration and the faint hope that something higher has survived.

From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026

As we rounded the corner, I glanced back to see a Nazi jeep turning into the street from the other side.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler