czar

American  

[zahr, tsahr] / zɑr, tsɑr /

Or tsar,

noun

• czars
  plural

1. an emperor or king.

2. (often initial capital letter) the former emperor of Russia.

3. an autocratic ruler or leader.

4. any person exercising great authority or power in a particular field.

   a czar of industry.

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czar British  

/ zɑː /

noun

1. a variant spelling (esp US) of tsar

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czar Cultural  

1. The title of rulers or emperors of Russia from the sixteenth century until the Russian Revolution. The czars ruled as absolute monarchs (see absolute monarchy) until the early twentieth century, when a parliament was established in Russia. Czar can also be spelled tsar.

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Discover More

The term czar is sometimes applied generally to a powerful leader or to a government administrator with wide-ranging powers.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• czardom
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• czars
  plural

Etymology

Origin of czar

First recorded in 1545–55; from Russian tsar', Old Russian tsĭsarĭ “emperor, king” (akin to Old Church Slavonic tsěsarĭ ), from Gothic kaisar “emperor” (from Greek or Latin ); Greek kaîsar, from Latin Caesar; see Caesar ( def. )

Explanation

Czar is a Russian word for ruler or emperor. Those kinds of czars are long gone, but we still use the word to describe people in charge of something important. Up until the early 20th century, the ruler in Russia was a man called a czar who had total power, like an emperor or dictator. In English, czar has hung around as a word for anyone in charge of anything. If you run a book club, you might jokingly call yourself a book czar. In the U.S. government, people in charge of large departments are often called czars — like the housing czar or labor czar.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

czar czars

Jay Clayton, head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, will chair the group, effectively making him President Trump’s AI czar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

At the same time, he has promised to name an AI czar and set up an “AI Force,” which would be similar the U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

White House czar Tom Homan defended the deportations in a recent CNN interview.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

If he were L.A.’s theater czar, his first order of business would be to infuse more money into the scene.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

“Think of the responsibility which you are asking me to take!” the czar told his foreign minister.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

It’s the foundation for the entire sovereign debt market — and is so widely honored that in 2002, Russia was still paying obligations from the time of the czars.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

Cooperating with Russia placed a brake on successive czars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025

Disaffected Twitter users have flocked to Threads, Zuckerberg’s copycat platform, seemingly forgiving him for a lifetime of social ills in the process, proving that it’s exhausting to loathe multiple tech czars for multiple reasons.

From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2024

The Russian Imperial Mission Society, which was founded by Romanov czars to support Orthodox mission work in Siberia and Alaska, gave the church many of the artifacts still kept there, Rivas said.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2023

I had read with awe how the Communists had sent phonetic experts into the vast regions of Russia to listen to the stammering dialects of peoples oppressed for centuries by the czars.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

Related Words

• ruler