éminence grise
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A person who exercises power or influence behind the scenes.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Người có quyền lực hoặc ảnh hưởng sau hậu trường
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: grey eminence
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The éminence grise of the organization was the one who made the real decisions.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “éminence grise” mean?
A person who exercises power or influence behind the scenes. Literally: grey eminence
Is “éminence grise” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.