Nazi
Americannoun
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Nazis
plural
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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.
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(often lowercase) a person elsewhere who holds similar views.
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(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.
adjective
noun
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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
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derogatory anyone who thinks or acts like a Nazi, esp showing racism, brutality, etc
adjective
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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Nazi
First recorded in 1930–35; from German Nazi, short for Nationalsozialist “National Socialist”
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:
Arendt began gathering evidence of Nazi antisemitism and was arrested in the summer of that year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
They included General Dietrich von Choltitz, the last Nazi commander in Paris, who arrived in late August 1944 after defying Hitler and surrendering the city.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
The board singled out the persistent bombing of German oil and communications facilities as a factor that impeded the resupply of the Nazi tank army.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
Some had wanted the house to become a centre of responsibility, confronting the Nazi past.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Japan, led by Emperor Hirohito, has a mighty ally in Germany, where Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler currently rules.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
The German and Austrian symphonic and operatic music of the 1930s happens to be the root of the Hollywood soundtrack, created by composers such as Erich Korngold, who fled the Nazis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
The records, seized by American troops after the Nazis were defeated in World War II, had previously only been available on microfilm.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
It wasn’t just the ancient Greeks and the American founders who favored classical forms; Roman emperors and the Nazis did too.
From Slate ● May 18, 2026
It was Sander’s photographs of these marginalized people that got him in trouble with the Nazis; they destroyed some of his work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
Thus, without firing a single shot, the Nazis took control of Austria.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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.
