power behind the throne
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
A person with influence without formal status.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
người có ảnh hưởng mà không có địa vị chính thức
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
It is this being, the power behind the throne who acts as the unifying force of all the ‘ lesser’ deities, who would more appropriately be described as the God of Hinduism.
Even though it was common knowledge that the Merkuts were the power behind the throne, no one could say that they had ever demanded precedence after Artai.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “power behind the throne” mean?
A person with influence without formal status.
Is “power behind the throne” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.