Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A powerful adviser or decision maker who operates secretly or unofficially.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
secret orunofficial decision -maker ; thepower behind the throne .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (French) a person who exercises power or influence in certain areas without holding an official position
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[French, the power behind the throne : éminence, power + grise, feminine of gris, gray, shadowy.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From French éminence ("power") + grise ("gray")
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word éminence grise.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
Jam_Phil commented on the word éminence grise
éminence grise is the head adviser, usually unofficially or behind the scenes, who wields immense power. The éminence grise has perhaps more power than the actual leader. It's like the king's right hand man who actually calls all the shots.
June 22, 2009