influential
[in-floo-en-shuh l]
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- a person who exerts or can exert strong influence: according to influentials of the fashion industry.
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Origin of influential
Synonyms
See more synonyms for influential on Thesaurus.com1. consequential, forceful, important.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for influential
Contemporary Examples
The influential al Qaeda propagandist, who was born in New Mexico, died in a U.S. drone strike later that year.
Also this week, he keynoted a fundraiser for Progress Iowa, an influential liberal group in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.
A year later Time would name him one of the most influential people in the world.
Chris Colfer on Writing, Acting, and the Pain of Being A Pop Culture TrailblazerOliver Jones
December 15, 2014
Her solution: a bucket list of influential people and places to visit and photograph.
Martin Scorsese is one of the most celebrated and influential directors in cinema history.
Historical Examples
He said that some of his most influential constituents disliked it.
You are right in supposing that I am not unaccustomed to—an influential position.'
Little DorritCharles Dickens
You should make your paper the organ of some influential party.
The ex-honorable had in his pocket a nomination for an influential office.
Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863Adam Gurowski
These are the influential literary and political journals of Reisenburg.
Vivian GreyEarl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli
influential
- having or exerting influence
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for influential
adj.
"powerful," 1650s, from Medieval Latin influentialis, from influentia (see influence). Earlier in an astrological sense (1560s).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper