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 /

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

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Nazis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Nazi

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Nazi Nazis

Several Russian officials welcomed the planned shows, while others expressed concerns about the rapper's past comments glorifying Nazi Germany, a sensitive issue in Russia.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

In 2015, she ejected her father from the party over his repeated characterization of Nazi gas chambers as a “detail of history.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

One in three Soviet PoWs entering Nazi Germany between 1941 and 1945 went through the complex at Senne, according to the memorial site, and they often ended up doing forced labour in the wider region.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

At the same time, “they attack Germany’s culture of remembrance, relativize Nazi crimes and question the historical responsibility that grew out of the Holocaust.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Other treaty violations followed as the Nazi government annexed Austria, then the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, where many ethnic Germans lived, and finally the rest of Czechoslovakia.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Brecht’s furiously unsentimental farces got him harangued — first by the Nazis, then by the House Un-American Activities Committee.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

There has been a wave of criticism in Germany after the town of Heidenau, near Dresden in Saxony, decided to ban "stumbling stone" memorials to victims of the Nazis.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

A painting which was stolen by the Nazis and only recovered in Argentina last year must now be returned to the heir of its rightful owner, a court has ruled.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

In the aftermath of World War II, Austria long presented itself as a victim of the Nazis, ignoring the complicity of many Austrians.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

The Nazis called the celebrations the “awakening of Germany.”

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti