éminence-grise
mi Origin:
< French
< French
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To éminence-grise
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World English Dictionary
éminence grise (eminɑ̃s ɡriz) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , pl éminences grises | |
| a person who wields power and influence unofficially or behind the scenes | |
| [C19: literally: grey eminence, originally applied to Père Joseph (François Le Clerc du Tremblay; died 1638), French monk, secretary of Cardinal Richelieu] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
éminence-grise
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
éminence grise [(ay-meh-nahns greez)]A person who wields power behind the scenes: “The king's brother-in-law is his éminence grise; he has enormous influence, though he is rarely in the public eye.” A French term meaning “gray eminence.”
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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