Na|zi

Na|zi «NAHT see, NAT-», noun, plural -zis, adjective.

–n.

1. a member or supporter of the National Socialist Party, a fascist political party in Germany, led by Adolf Hitler; advocate of Nazism. It came to power in Germany in 1933 and believed in state control of industry, denunciation of communism and Judaism, and the dominance of Germany as a world power.

2. Often, nazi. a believer in similar doctrines in any country; any fascist.

–adj.

of or having to do with the Nazis or their doctrines.

╂[< German Nazi, short for Nati(onalsozialist) National Socialist]

Usage Nazi was a political nickname for the National Socialist Party in Germany and is capitalized like Republican or Democrat. The type of party represented by the Nazis is usually referred to as fascist or totalitarian. Nazi. A pronunciation somewhere between «NAH zee» and «NAZ ee» never gained general acceptance in the United States or Great Britain, but deserves note for its use by Sir Winston Churchill, in whose mouth during World War II it was an utterance of remarkable eloquence, conveying unmistakably Churchill's loathing and contempt for Hitler and his works.