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

David Sacks, Trump’s pick for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar, thanked Trump and Musk for setting the stage for Meta’s moves. —William Gavin, Quartz, 7 Jan. 2025

Trump also appointed the nation's first crypto and artificial intelligence czar, the prominent venture capitalist David Sacks, who is expected to help shape friendlier policies to both sectors. —Rafael Nam, NPR, 6 Jan. 2025

Craft Ventures founder David Sacks is the highest-profile hire as AI and crypto czar, with a team that is expected to include former Andreessen Horowitz partner Sriram Krishnan. —Dan Primack, Axios, 3 Jan. 2025

González has vowed to appoint an energy czar to address the crisis and hold Luma Energy accountable. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 2 Jan. 2025

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