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

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Jonathan Kanter, the competition czar in Biden’s Justice Department, has likened the UnitedHealth amalgamation to Amazon. Elisabeth Rosenthal, Miami Herald, 11 Nov. 2025 The remarks sparked a firestorm and the ire of AI czar David Sacks. Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 11 Nov. 2025 Billionaire Elon Musk, who was once a big fan of Wikipedia, has turned on the encyclopedia, as has White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, and even Wales’ estranged co-founder Larry Sanger, who have all claimed Wikipedia is biased. Harry Booth, Time, 9 Nov. 2025 The remarks quickly caught the attention of industry watchers, including White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks. Bloomberg, Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for czar

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of czar was in 1555

Cite this Entry

“Czar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/czar. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.

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

More from Merriam-Webster on czar

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!