Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A person who manipulates or controls another, especially by force of personality for malicious purposes.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun someone (usually maleficent) who tries to persuade or force another person to do his bidding
- noun the musician in a novel by George du Maurier who controls Trilby's singing hypnotically
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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And yet the tone of all the references to Svengali is almost unconsciously contemptuous, and the fact that du Maurier chose a Jew to play such a part is significant.
As I Please 1946
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Entitled Svengali, the project is the brainchild of former Shameless star Jonathan Owen and the show has already garnered a cult following thanks to the help of former Creation boss McGee.
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In an early-August interview with Chicago Magazine's Carol Felsenthal, Vertolli called top Kirk consultant Dodie McCracken a "kind of Svengali figure in his life" and said she did not appreciate that Kirk voted "in favor of maintaining a discriminatory policy against gays and lesbians who are serving us in the military" after gaining trust within the gay community.
Mark Kirk's Ex-Wife Joins Campaign After Slamming Top Kirk Consultant 2010
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Reporters rushed to profile Pearlman as the unlikely impresario — some said "Svengali" — of a new era of boy bands.
Mad About the Boys Burrough, Bryan 2007
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He told me that he was afraid of Stern and that he was feeding his mother drugs and that he was acting like some kind of Svengali and that his mother was receiving some kind of mind-bending drug.
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He told me that he was afraid of Stern and that he was feeding his mother drugs and that he was acting like some kind of Svengali and that his mother was receiving some kind of mind-bending drug.
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JACK HARDING, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: He told me that he was afraid of Stern and that he was acting like some kind of Svengali and that his mother was receiving some kind of mind-bending drug.
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He was afraid of Stern and that he was feeding his mother drugs, that he was acting like some kind of Svengali and that his mother was receiving some kind of mind-bending drug.
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This point also will call for improving local government and curtailing the power of religious courts and mentions that Bush may be mesmerized by the "Svengali" or "Rasputin" advice of fellow war-criminal Henry Kissinger who believes winning in Iraq is just a matter of "political will" - just the way it worked for Henry in Vietnam.
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This point also will call for improving local government and curtailing the power of religious courts and mentions that Bush may be mesmerized by the "Svengali" or "Rasputin" advice of fellow war-criminal Henry Kissinger who believes winning in Iraq is just a matter of "political will" - just the way it worked for Henry in Vietnam.
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