herrenvolk means A master race, especially with reference to Nazi ideology.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, herrenvolk ranks #389 of 12,956 for Most Storied Words, #1,175 of 12,955 for Most Incisive Words, #1,702 of 12,955 for Most Vivid Words, #3,459 of 12,955 for Most Malleable Words.
herrenvolk is pronounced /ˈhɛɹənfəʊk/.
Why “herrenvolk” is a great word
Herrenvolk is a master race, especially as posited by Nazi ideology. From German Herrenvolk, from Herr ("lord, master") + Volk ("folk, people"). First used in English in the 1940s. Unlike an "elite," which may denote a superior group based on mutable attributes like status or merit, or the broader ideology of "supremacism," Herrenvolk specifies a biologically-defined people claiming an inherent and exclusive right to rule as masters. It is the cold theorist’s chart of skull measurements, the boot stamping on a street it has declared its own, and the bureaucratic stamp on a deportation order—the ultimate perversion of tribal belonging into a doctrine of extermination, a fiction where some are born to own the earth, and others to be erased from it.
Etymology
From German Herrenvolk, from Herr (“lord, master, gentleman”) + -en- + Volk (“folk, people”).
noun
- A master race, especially with reference to Nazi ideology.“In their position halfway between the blacks and the white Herrenvolk, they are bound to be unstable, they are petty bourgeois to the core, all of them.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- herrenvolkism 93% match — Political belief in, or promotion of, a master race. vs herrenvolk →
- inferiorism 84% match — The belief that some people are inherently inferior to others. vs herrenvolk →
- ethnonationalism 83% match — A type of nationalism which defines the nation in terms of a shared ethnicity. vs herrenvolk →
- lebensraum 82% match — Territories considered appropriate for German habitation, regarded as vital for the natural flourishing of the German race:; an empire in the form of overseas colonies, in imitation of contemporary powers such as Britain and France. vs herrenvolk →
- baasskap 82% match — Dominion, control, or supremacy, especially of white South Africans over nonwhite peoples. vs herrenvolk →
- ethnostate 81% match — A political unit that is populated by and run in the interest of an ethnic group. vs herrenvolk →
- segregationism 81% match — A belief in (usually racial) segregation. vs herrenvolk →
- mischling 81% match — In certain (especially Nazi) racial theories, someone of mixed race; especially one who is partly of Jewish descent. vs herrenvolk →