Wunderwaffe

English

Etymology

From German Wunderwaffe.

Noun

Wunderwaffe (plural Wunderwaffen)

1. A wonderweapon, an (often secret) especially powerful weapon.

Alternative forms

• wunderwaffe

German

Etymology

Wunder (“miracle, wonder”) +‎ Waffe (“weapon”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvʊndərˌvafə/, [ˈvʊn.dɐˌva.fə], [ˈʋʊn.dɐˌʋa.fə]

• Audio:

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• Audio (Austria):

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Noun

Wunderwaffe f (genitive Wunderwaffe, plural Wunderwaffen)

1. wonderweapon
2. (historical, Nazism) a Nazi propaganda term from the final phase of World War Two referring to secret weapon designs claimed to be revolutionary and capable of winning the war for Germany (many of these were fictional and intended merely to strengthen morale, others were ineffective or not finalized)

   Synonym: Wuwa

3. (figuratively, usually sarcastically) magic bullet, panacea (a universal solution which solves all problems related to a particular issue)

   Synonym: Allheilmittel

   • 2022 January 29, Antje Lang-Lendorff, “Im Gespräch mit einer Impfgegnerin: Sabine hofft auf Omikron”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Tatsächlich gab es 2021 in den USA einen Hype um Ivermectin. Eine Gruppe von Ärzten pries das Medikament als Wunderwaffe gegen Corona, es wirke auch präventiv.

     In fact, there was hype about Ivermectin in the USA in 2021. A group of doctors praised the drug as a magic bullet against Corona, saying it also had a preventive effect.

Declension

Declension of Wunderwaffe [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Wunderwaffe	die	Wunderwaffen
genitive	einer	der	Wunderwaffe	der	Wunderwaffen
dative	einer	der	Wunderwaffe	den	Wunderwaffen
accusative	eine	die	Wunderwaffe	die	Wunderwaffen

Further reading

• “Wunderwaffe” in Duden online
• “Wunderwaffe” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Michael Robert, Karin Doerr (2002) “Wunderwaffen”, in Nazi-Deutsch/Nazi-German: An English lexicon of the language of the Third Reich, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 447