eichmann means A surname from German. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.
Why this word is great
EICHMANN — [Noun] A surname of German origin; a person who participates in immoral or destructive acts without ethical qualms because those acts are sanctioned by authority. From the German surname Eichmann, from Middle High German eich(e) ("oak") + mann ("man"). The noun sense derives from Otto Adolf Eichmann (1906–1962), the Nazi official who orchestrated the Holocaust. Unlike an ideologue, who is fueled by fanatical belief, or a sadist, who relishes cruelty, an eichmann is defined by a bureaucratic void, the substitution of procedure for conscience. It is the crisp stamp on a deportation order, the efficient routing of a train to a terminus of smoke, the calm voice discussing quotas over a polished desk—the quiet horror that the greatest evils are administered not by monsters, but by diligent clerks.
name
- A surname from German.“And the Nazi, in turn, tries to curry favor with the Mossadnik by asking him about his sister Fruma, executed in some frozen forest by the genocidal machine Eichmann had helped design.”
noun
- One who willingly participates in immoral or destructive actions without ethical qualms because the actions are acceptable to society.“Hence, no special moral or political perversion is required to produce an Eichmann; it might be said that there are thousands of potential Eichmanns.”