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

A new German tribunal started work on Monday on resolving disputes over cultural property seized by the Nazis, a move the government hopes will streamline the process for outstanding claims.

From Barron's

During the Second World War, countless Polish artefacts, including historical archives and works of art, were looted by Nazi Germany.

From Barron's

Born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia, his parents fled from imminent Nazi occupation when he was still a baby and went to Singapore, where his father died in a Japanese prison camp.

From BBC

Born in Czechoslovakia in 1937, his family fled to Singapore when the Nazis invaded.

From Los Angeles Times

He later learned from relatives that all four of his grandparents had been Jewish, and that they had died in Nazi concentration camps.

From BBC