czar

noun

ˈzär  ˈ(t)sär 

variants or less commonly tsar or tzar

1

: emperor

specifically : the ruler of Russia until the 1917 revolution

2

: one having great power or authority

a banking czar

czardom noun

or less commonly tsardom or tzardom

ˈzär-dəm 

ˈ(t)sär-

Synonyms

• baron
• captain
• king
• lion
• lord
• magnate
• mogul
• monarch
• Napoleon
• prince
• tycoon

Examples of czar in a Sentence

a showbiz czar who is said to be able to make or break a career

Recent Examples on the Web

John Mann, the British government’s antisemitism czar, assumed the F.A. would do the same for Israel. —Rory Smith, New York Times, 20 Oct. 2023

Mayor Karen Bass’ homelessness czar Mercedes Márquez will be replaced by Lourdes Castro Ramírez. —Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2023

The chain started in Santa Monica as a pizzeria in 1978 and became the first acquisition of budding restaurant czar Bill Chait in the mid-1980s. —Laurie Ochoa, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2023

Mayor Karen Bass’ homelessness czar, Mercedes Márquez, will leave her high-profile post next month, with state housing official Lourdes Castro Ramírez set to succeed her, the mayor’s office announced Monday. —Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2023

China’s economic czar, Vice Premier He Lifeng, will oversee the work led by different agencies in Beijing. —Cate Cadell, Washington Post, 22 Sep. 2023

The real czars may be long gone, but for decades, the White House has been doing a good job of keeping the role—or at least the honorific—alive, appointing a director to oversee a particular task or issue, and bestowing the title along with it. —Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 15 Sep. 2023

Under the czar, the Bolsheviks had used these seasonal outings as a ruse to conceal their subversive plotting. —Yaroslav Trofimov, WSJ, 18 Aug. 2023

Yet his political views remained an object of fascination for many, in part because his younger brother, William J. Bennett, rose to become a prominent conservative voice while serving as education secretary under Ronald Reagan and federal drug czar under Bush. —Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 13 Sep. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

New Latin czar, from Russian tsar', from Old Russian tsĭsarĭ, from Goth kaisar, from Greek or Latin; Greek, from Latin Caesar — more at caesar

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

czar

noun

variants also tsar or tzar

ˈzär

1

: the ruler of Russia until the 1917 revolution

2

: one having great power or authority

a baseball czar

czardom noun

also tsardom or tzardom

ˈzärd-əm

Etymology

Latin czar "czar," from Russian tsar' (same meaning), from early Russian tsǐsarǐ, tsěsarǐ "emperor," from a Germanic word kaisar "emperor," derived from Latin Caesar (title of a line of Roman emperors after Augustus Caesar) see Word History at emperor