Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An official of the Communist Party in charge of political indoctrination and the enforcement of party loyalty.
- n. The head of a commissariat in the Soviet Union until 1946.
- n. A person who tries to control public opinion.
Wiktionary
- n. An official of the Communist Party, often attached to a military unit, who was responsible for political education.
- n. In the Soviet Union, the head of a commissariat.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an official of the Communist Party who was assigned to teach party principles to a military unit
Etymologies
- From Russian комиссар, from German Kommissar (“commissioner”), from Latin commissarius. (Wiktionary)
- Russian komissar, from German Kommissar, deputy, from Medieval Latin commissārius, agent; see commissary. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“… A commissar is a political officer whose position is equal to that of the commander of a given military unit and has the authority to countermand the orders of the commander.”
“Visiting Warrior Mark Steyn drew a rapt crowd of, well, two dozen, as he addressed an Ontario government legislative committee, calling the head of the Ontario Human Rights Commission a "commissar" and predicting terrorist violence if rights commissions persist:”
“But I do it on my own dime and I don't see why 'commissar' Hall and her colleagues shouldn't also do it on their own dime.”
“We need to make Russia strong again," says Nikolai Panchenko, a Nashi "commissar," or leader.”
Russia accused of launching first massive cyberstrike against Estonia
“She says, "commissar," which is, of course, the -- a Soviet official.”
“There's ample power in the Treasury Department and the Energy Department, etcetera to get these things done," he insisted, "and I don't think there should be a commissar, which is really what this is.”
“General of the PLA and political commissar of General Logistics Department”
“Dr. Besigye left the ruling party in 1999, after rising to a top position of political commissar.”
The Wall Street Journal: Ugandan Physician Offers Revolutionary Cure
“For example, when he was vice party secretary of Fujian from 1996 to 2000, he served concurrently as vice director of the Committee on National Defense Mobilization within the Nanjing Military Region, director of the National Defense Mobilization of Fujian Province, and the first military commissar of the Fujian Artillery Reserves Corp.”
The Wall Street Journal: The Military Maneuvers of Xi Jinping
“On the same day that the Hu-Obama summit was held, the PLA announced the appointment of General Liu Yuan as political commissar of the General Logistics Department.”
The Wall Street Journal: The Military Maneuvers of Xi Jinping
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘commissar’.
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POL - people in power
daredevil, tzar, king, boss, master, commander, chief, kingpin, top banana, bigwig, big cheese, big wheel and 452 more...
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Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 997 more...
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Spelling Bee list 2011
Abalone, ablution, absolution, aboriginally, abstemious, academician, acclamation, accommodation, acculturation, acetic, acetone, acme and 590 more...
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kingrat47's Words
procrustean, devolution, cacophony, hippopotamus, crunch, beware, chortled, sibilant, subtle, undermine, acromegaly, acropolis and 645 more...
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Liberal Fascism
Words gathered while reading Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg
de rigueur, palingenetic, christianist, himmleresque, invidious, bismarckian, divinize, granitelike, deweyan, fons et origo, kulak, numinousness and 107 more...
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Slavic Languages Spelling Bee List
need to learn these words!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gulag, robot, troika, siberian, kishke, sable, polka, sputnik, babushka, gopak, trepak, baba and 40 more...
Tweets
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