éminence grise
Americannoun
-
éminences grises
plural
noun
Usage
What does éminence grise mean? Éminence grise is a term for a person who wields power in an unofficial capacity or who influences things behind the scenes, mostly or completely out of public view. The term is usually used in the context of politics and is typically applied to someone who wields power through another person who holds an official position. The term often implies that the éminence grise is doing this secretly or in an unauthorized or otherwise shadowy way. The term is most often applied by the media or by those who are critical of such influence. Éminence grise comes from French and literally translates to “gray eminence,” which can be used as a synonym, though this is less common. (The spelling grey eminence is also used.)The plural of éminence grise is éminences grises. Example: The press is calling him an éminence grise and implying that he is the one orchestrating things behind the scenes.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of éminence grise
From French
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.
Whether the 61-year-old’s return to tennis as an éminence grise can herd the sport’s notoriously scattered stakeholders together and strengthen the players’ position is the question du jour.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Alexander Hamilton, by then a New York lawyer who still played the president’s éminence grise, wanted Washington to exit as he entered: a unifying figure optimistic about the “infant nation.”
From Slate ● Feb. 17, 2025
Sunday night at the 66th annual Grammy Awards, Jay-Z accepted the Dr. Dre global impact award, a sort of éminence grise prize.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
Multiple experts praised his skill — Dr. Walter Straus, an associate vice president at the drug company Merck & Co., said Whitley is an "éminence grise" in pediatrics whom people trust.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2020
Although he may have always been described as the enfant terrible of fashion, today Gaultier is one the industry’s éminence grise.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 23, 2020
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
