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Svengali

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(pronounced sven-gah-lee or sfen-gah-lee)  noun

Definition

a person who manipulates or completely dominates another, especially for an evil or wicked purpose. [From the evil hypnotist, Svengali, in George Du Maurier’s 1984 novel “Trilby” who has a hypnotic control on Trilby’s singing.]

Main Example

• The recent outbreak of violence in Jamaica, which has claimed nearly a hundred lives, has been triggered by the efforts of that island’s government to capture crime boss Christopher “Dudus” Coke and extradite him to the U.S., where he is wanted for trafficking cocaine. Coke is a Svengali-like figure who exercises ruthless control over a large slum in Kingston.

Workplace Examples

• I’m afraid our new CEO, Rob, is more or less a figurehead. The big decisions are really originating from his predecessor who, thanks to his huge shareholdings and clout with members of the board, is able to manipulate the top management like a Svengali.
• Whenever I do something out of the ordinary, such as making that comment during the CEO’s presentation this morning, you ask if Brad had prompted me. So, let’s be clear: I’m doing these things of my own accord. Yes, Brad is a mentor, but he is not my Svengali or something.

Other Examples

• an employee of the marketing department telling someone from a different part of the company: “The reason why Maya’s the person behind every one of our major marketing thrusts is because of the sheer supremacy of her ideas, and not because of, say, a hypnotic hold over the department. In fact, she operates very openly, and for the good of the company, by encouraging others to develop proposals that compete with her own. So, characterizing her as some crafty, controlling Svengali is wrong.”
• some analysts referring to the highly talented Dick Morris and Carl Rove as the political Svengalis of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, respectively
• the tragic story of the once-popular NBC news anchor Jessica Savitch who, up until her fatal auto accident at the age of 36, was reportedly on a path of self-destruction because of her addiction to cocaine and an on-again, off-again physically abusive relationship with a fellow NBC reporter who was her lover and Svengali
• According to Robert Osborne, the host of Turner Classic Movies, Marlene Dietrich owed her rise to director Joseph von Sternberg who “became the Svengali” to the seductive actress in the early 1930s, molding her into a great star, first in Germany, then later in Hollywood.

© 2010 V.J. Singal
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