commissar

American  

[kom-uh-sahr, kom-uh-sahr] / ˈkɒm əˌsɑr, ˌkɒm əˈsɑr /

noun

1. the head of any of the major governmental divisions of the U.S.S.R.: called minister since 1946.

2. an official in any communist government whose duties include political indoctrination, detection of political deviation, etc.

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commissar British  

/ ˌkɒmɪˈsɑː, ˈkɒmɪˌsɑː /

noun

1. Also called: political commissar.  an official of the Communist Party responsible for political education, esp in a military unit

2. Now called: minister.  Also called: People's Commissar.  (before 1946) the head of a government department

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commissar Cultural  

1. In various communist systems of government, an official assigned to a group to ensure the group's conformity to Communist party doctrine. The heads of government departments in the former Soviet Union were called commissars.

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Etymology

Origin of commissar

1915–20; < Russian komissár < German Kommissar < Medieval Latin commissārius commissary

Example Sentences

Over the years, Muivah transformed from jungle commissar to political negotiator.

From BBC

Miao Hua, the former head of the Central Military Commission’s political-work department; ex-commanders of China’s strategic-missile force and paramilitary police; and former political commissars of China’s army and navy, according to the spokesman.

From The Wall Street Journal

The case was ultimately dropped, but commissioner Julie Inman Grant says she received an "avalanche of online abuse" after Mr Musk called her the "censorship commissar" in a post to his 196 million followers.

From BBC

Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant - who herself once worked for Twitter - had asked for the video to be removed globally, prompting Mr Musk to call her a "censorship commissar".

From BBC

Wang Wenquan will act as political commissar of the Southern Theater Command that oversees China’s operations in the highly contested South China Sea.

From Seattle Times