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

China’s tech world is watching closely what will happen to Mr. Bao, who knows or has worked with nearly every mover and shaker in the industry.

From New York Times • Feb. 22, 2023

“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

She sold her company in 1995, just months before she died at the age of 74; in the words of her sister, “a mover and shaker all of her life.”

From Seattle Times • Mar. 5, 2022

The special “Vernon Jordan: Make It Plain” profiles the corporate executive, civil-rights activist and political mover and shaker.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 25, 2020

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

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker