gestapo

noun

ge·​sta·​po gə-ˈstä-(ˌ)pō How to pronounce gestapo (audio)
plural gestapos
: a secret-police organization employing underhanded and terrorist methods against persons suspected of disloyalty

Examples of gestapo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The people who found the postcards were so terrified that almost all the cards were turned over to the gestapo. Rabih Alameddine september 2, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025 As Daley attempted to silence dissent and scrutiny over his gestapo tactics within the convention hall, party leaders refused to seat the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party’s delegates who were challenging the state’s all-white delegation. Jackson Potter, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2025 If the prisoners are transferred to Adolf Hitler’s gestapo, World War II — and the fate of Western civilization — could be hanging in the balance. Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 12 Oct. 2024 He was assigned to the isis secret police—the caliphate’s gestapo—and tasked with arresting his former pro-democracy allies. Anand Gopal, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 Cuba’s primal scream for liberty on July 11 has gone viral and exposed the grisly methods used by Cuba’s gestapo to keep the lid on dissent. Mary Anastasia O’Grady, WSJ, 25 July 2021 They’ve been smeared as the ‘gestapo’ for doing their jobs. John Haughey, Washington Examiner, 14 Dec. 2020 His mother had fed some of the 500 Russian prisoners in the town and so was taken away by the gestapo. Brendan Leonard, Outside Online, 4 Oct. 2020

Word History

Etymology

German, from Geheime Staatspolizei, literally, secret state police

First Known Use

1934, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gestapo was in 1934

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Cite this Entry

“Gestapo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gestapo. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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