Svengali
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of Svengali
First recorded in 1940–45; after the evil hypnotist of the same name in the novel Trilby (1894) by George Du Maurier
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Berkshire’s longtime vice chairman Charlie Munger, Buffett’s Svengali, died at age 99 three years ago.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
Benante compares the band to ’70s female hard rock group the Runaways, hatched and molded by rock Svengali Kim Fowley, which marked the debuts of Joan Jett and Lita Ford.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
When you talk about the male Svengali, I want to talk about Scooter Braun, and what happened when he purchased the masters to Taylor’s first six albums.
From Salon ● Nov. 24, 2024
Later, McLaren would boast he was a "con man", a Svengali who twisted popular culture into nothing more than a convenient marketing gimmick.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2022
Contemptuous of Oppenheimer’s arguments against the Super, he depicted Oppenheimer as a Svengali ruthlessly hypnotizing some of the world’s most sophisticated scientists into joining his opposition campaign.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
