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
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The 2,900-page bill would make an old Soviet commissar blush. 
Phil Gramm And Mike Solon, WSJ, 1 Mar. 2022 And administration of the Appanages? Appoint a special Provisional Government commissar. Gentlemen. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, National Review, 13 Oct. 2021 But the commissar did not budge or remove his tall hat. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, National Review, 14 Oct. 2021 Anatoly Lunacharsky, the first Bolshevik commissar for education, endorsed London’s work. J. Hoberman, The New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2020 On April 13, 1941, Japan’s foreign minister, Yosuke Matsuoka, and the Soviet commissar of foreign affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov, signed a neutrality pact, valid for five years. Sean Mcmeekin, WSJ, 12 Apr. 2021 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the two officials targeted — the commander, Peng Jiarui, and the former commissar, Sun Jinlong — would also be subject to U.S. visa restrictions. Matthew Lee, Star Tribune, 31 July 2020 With the Lincolns, he was elected as much as selected, said Steve Nelson, the brigade’s political commissar. National Geographic, 31 July 2020 The Treasury Department sanctions will also hit the XPCC’s former political commissar Sun Jinlong as well as Deputy Party Secretary and XPCC Commander Peng Jiarui. Jerry Dunleavy, Washington Examiner, 31 July 2020 See More
Phil Gramm And Mike Solon, WSJ, 1 Mar. 2022 And administration of the Appanages? Appoint a special Provisional Government commissar. Gentlemen. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, National Review, 13 Oct. 2021 But the commissar did not budge or remove his tall hat. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, National Review, 14 Oct. 2021 Anatoly Lunacharsky, the first Bolshevik commissar for education, endorsed London’s work. J. Hoberman, The New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2020 On April 13, 1941, Japan’s foreign minister, Yosuke Matsuoka, and the Soviet commissar of foreign affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov, signed a neutrality pact, valid for five years. Sean Mcmeekin, WSJ, 12 Apr. 2021 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the two officials targeted — the commander, Peng Jiarui, and the former commissar, Sun Jinlong — would also be subject to U.S. visa restrictions. Matthew Lee, Star Tribune, 31 July 2020 With the Lincolns, he was elected as much as selected, said Steve Nelson, the brigade’s political commissar. National Geographic, 31 July 2020 The Treasury Department sanctions will also hit the XPCC’s former political commissar Sun Jinlong as well as Deputy Party Secretary and XPCC Commander Peng Jiarui. Jerry Dunleavy, Washington Examiner, 31 July 2020 See More 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