to act like a tsar
- idiom
- Informal
:
actuar como un zar
- People accused the mayor of acting like a tsar when she made decisions without consulting the council.
Examples
-
Despite leading a small team, he would often act like a tsar and refuse to listen to feedback.
-
Don't act like a tsar at the meeting!
-
After his promotion, Mark sometimes acts like a tsar and ignores the suggestions of others.
-
He always acts like a tsar when he's in charge.
-
After his promotion, Mark sometimes acts like a tsar and ignores the suggestions of others.
-
Despite leading a small team, he would often act like a tsar and refuse to listen to feedback.
-
People accused the mayor of acting like a tsar when she made decisions without consulting the council.
Synonyms
8
7.5
To treat other people as if you are better than them
2
8.4
To treat people in a cruel and unfair way
2
8.8
To boss other people around and not let them speak
Behave as if others are less important
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'act' (behave) + 'like' (similar to) + 'tsar' (an autocratic ruler), so its meaning 'behave in an authoritarian manner' can be directly inferred if the learner knows the constituents. This simile pattern (act like X) is common cross-linguistically, so the expression is transparent to a B1 learner who knows the word 'tsar' (though it would be opaque only if the learner does not know that lexical item).
Etymology
The phrase act like a tsar comes from the old Russian rulers called tsars, who had all the power and often made decisions alone. So saying someone acts like a tsar means 'being bossy and making decisions without asking others'.