commissar

noun

com·​mis·​sar ˈkä-mə-ˌsär 

1

a

: a Communist party official assigned to a military unit to teach party principles and policies and to ensure party loyalty

b

: one that attempts to control public opinion or its expression

2

: the head of a government department in the Soviet Union until 1946

Examples of commissar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

He was appointed the political commissar of the PLA Navy in 2014, overlapping with the time Dong served as the deputy chief of staff of the Navy. —Steven Jiang, CNN, 28 Nov. 2024

Now imagine the people who know how to do this routine stuff are either thrown out of office or put under the thumbs of political commissars. —Zack Beauchamp, Vox, 1 Nov. 2024

In the Sakha Republic, one military commissar was punched in the face. —Sarah A. Topol, New York Times, 20 Sep. 2024

In Lai’s youth, Taiwanese politics were dominated by martial law under the one-party rule of the KMT, which ran the government, military, and society through a corps of political commissars. —Nick Frisch, Foreign Affairs, 16 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Russian komissar, borrowed from German Kommissar, earlier Commissar "person delegated to perform an office, commissioner" borrowed from Medieval Latin commissārius commissary

First Known Use

1921, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

commissar

noun

com·​mis·​sar ˈkäm-ə-ˌsär 

1

: a Communist party official who enforces loyalty in a military unit

2

: a government department head in the U.S.S.R. until 1946