# commissar vs commissary

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### commissar
*noun · IPA /ˌkɒmɪˈsɑː/ · frequency rank #42,583*
An official of the Communist Party, often attached to a military unit, who was responsible for political education.

### commissary
*noun · IPA /ˈkɒm.ɪ.s(ə)ɹi/ · frequency rank #36,496*
A store primarily serving persons in an institution, most often soldiers or prisoners.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/commissar-vs-commissary