Advertisement

Svengali

"one who exerts controlling or mesmeric influence on another," 1914, from hypnotist character of that name in the novel "Trilby" (1894) by George Du Maurier.

Others are reading

Advertisement
Definitions of Svengali from WordNet

Svengali (n.)
someone (usually maleficent) who tries to persuade or force another person to do his bidding;
Svengali (n.)
the musician in a novel by George du Maurier who controls Trilby's singing hypnotically;
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near Svengali

SUV

suzerain

suzerainty

Suzie

svelte

Svengali

swab

Swabia

Swabian

swaddle

swag