noun
Stasi
STAH-zee
noun
1
Someone who spies on or closely monitors others in a way associated with secret police, often said of intrusive surveillance.
"Employees complained that the new tracking software made management feel like the Stasi."
"She joked that her nosy neighbor acted like a one-woman Stasi for the whole street."
2
Someone who is needlessly strict or forces their own rules and views onto other people.
"His younger brother turned into a real Stasi about kitchen cleanliness after moving out."
How to Use Stasi
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishUsed loosely (usually lower-case) to describe someone acting like a spy or an overly strict enforcer of rules.
When to use it
Informal and often exaggerated for comic effect, though it references a real and feared secret police force.
Word Forms
Stasi plural
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Etymology
From the abbreviated German name of East Germany's Ministry for State Security, the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, notorious for surveilling its own citizens.