éminence grise

plural éminences grises · plural éminence grises · alternative eminence grise

1. idiomaticA secret or unofficial decision-maker.

   But Harry Hopkins was no mere manipulator of people and ideas, no eminence grise masterminding the actions of figureheads.

   1987 July 12, John A[rthur] Garraty, “Harry’s Luck [book review of Harry Hopkins: Ally of the Poor and Defender of Democracy by George McJimsey]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2020, page 28

   2 more examples

   [Ichirō] Ozawa is the Secretary-General of [Yukio] Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan (DJP) and the éminence grise of the electoral campaign that catapulted the new Prime Minister to power.

   2009 September 16, Coco Masters, “Japan’s New Prime Minister—and New Shadow Shogun”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Warner Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Oct 2017

   The watchmaker himself, a white-haired éminence grise, was bent over his work, a jeweler’s loupe in his eye, when I walked in.

   2026 April 24, Robert Klose, “Fix my watch, tell me a story”, in The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC

   Synonyms: power behind the throne, gray eminence