mover and shaker

Idioms  

1. A person who wields power and influence in a particular activity or field, as in He's one of the movers and shakers in the art world. At first the two nouns referred specifically to God, alluding to the belief that a divine force was responsible for all events. The current usage refers only to human beings. [Second half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

"So he was a real mover and shaker of the movement".

From BBC • May 17, 2026

Jerry Jones, the NFL’s premier mover and shaker, sprinkled table salt onto the rim of his beer can in his makeshift office at Dallas Cowboys training camp in Oxnard.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2026

“He was the main mover and shaker in rebuilding labor’s political clout,” Steve Rosenthal, a former AFL-CIO political director, told the Times of Mr. McEntee in 2011.

From Washington Post • Jul. 11, 2022

Marjorie Pitter King was “a mover and shaker all of her life.”

From Seattle Times • Mar. 5, 2022

All eyes are on an agent: a protagonist, a mover and shaker, a driving force.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker