tsar

/zɑr/

Other forms: tsars

In Russia, the tsar was the supreme male monarch, or king. The last Russian tsar was overthrown in 1917 — but you can still use this word for the head of a big government program.

In the tenth century, tsar or czar was the title of certain Slavic and Eastern European monarchs, and from 1547 until the Russian Revolution, a tsar also ruled over Russia. The word comes from the Latin caesar, or "emperor," a title inspired by Julius Caesar. Tsar is used metaphorically for someone heading up a special government project, like the climate tsar President Obama appointed or the oil tsar hired by President Roosevelt.

Definitions of tsar

1. noun

   a male monarch or emperor (especially of Russia prior to 1917)
   synonyms: czar, tzar

   examples:

   Aleksandr Pavlovich

   the czar of Russia whose plans to liberalize the government of Russia were unrealized because of the wars with Napoleon (1777-1825)

   Alexander the Liberator

   the son of Nicholas I who, as czar of Russia, introduced reforms that included limited emancipation of the serfs (1818-1881)

   Czar Alexander III

   son of Alexander II who was czar of Russia (1845-1894)

   Boris Fyodorovich Godunov

   czar of Russia (1551-1605)

   Ivan Iv Vasilievich

   the first czar of Russia (1530-1584)

   Czar Nicholas I

   czar of Russia from 1825 to 1855 who led Russia into the Crimean War (1796-1855)

   Nicholas II

   the last czar of Russia who was forced to abdicate in 1917 by the Russian Revolution; he and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks (1868-1918)

   Peter the Great

   czar of Russia who introduced ideas from western Europe to reform the government; he extended his territories in the Baltic and founded St. Petersburg (1682-1725)

   type of:

   crowned head, monarch, sovereign

   a nation's ruler or head of state usually by hereditary right