as in elder statesman
the senior member of a group
the revered éminence grise of Civil War historians
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Recent Examples of éminence grise
But none have matched JPMorgan, which, under the leadership of Wall Street’s eminence grise Jamie Dimon, has thrived.
—
Paolo Confino, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2024
Belafonte was 57, an eminence grise in entertainment, and his participation motivated lots of artists who admired him.
—Rob Tannenbaum, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2024
Federer serving in the Sinatra/Clooney part as the eminence grise.
—Jason Gay, WSJ, 24 Sep. 2022
That emotionally astute author, the eminence grise, the institutional memory.
—Washington Post, 29 Dec. 2021
Matthews is an eminence grise of television news, his pugilistic and red-cheeked persona familiar to viewers from countless election nights.
—BostonGlobe.com, 2 Mar. 2020
In the world of the candle obsessed, Diptyque is the eminence grise.
—Kathleen Hou, The Cut, 16 Jan. 2018
Paolo Confino, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2024
Belafonte was 57, an eminence grise in entertainment, and his participation motivated lots of artists who admired him.
—Rob Tannenbaum, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2024
Federer serving in the Sinatra/Clooney part as the eminence grise.
—Jason Gay, WSJ, 24 Sep. 2022
That emotionally astute author, the eminence grise, the institutional memory.
—Washington Post, 29 Dec. 2021
Matthews is an eminence grise of television news, his pugilistic and red-cheeked persona familiar to viewers from countless election nights.
—BostonGlobe.com, 2 Mar. 2020
In the world of the candle obsessed, Diptyque is the eminence grise.
—Kathleen Hou, The Cut, 16 Jan. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for éminence grise
Noun
-
Lowden plays River like a stoic fool, the serious novice to Gary Oldman’s sloppy elder statesman.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
10 Apr. 2025
-
As Hip-Hop continues to progress and evolve, some of the genre’s elder statesmen have lost their connection or understanding of the landscape.—
Armon Sadler,
VIBE.com,
21 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
The team parted ways with head coach Antonio Pierce and brought in veteran Pete Carroll to steer the ship.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Apr. 2025
-
The veteran actress reinforced her romantic bonafides in the starry ensemble movies Think Like a Man and Think Like a Man Too (2014) while finding a home on TV in Being Mary Jane (2013–2019).—
EW.com,
EW.com,
21 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Cardinal Giovanni Battista, the dean of the College of Cardinals, will lead the proceedings.—
George Petras,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2025
-
Some deans have even been chosen as pope, including Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.—
Bill Chappell,
NPR,
23 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Barber had been serving a four-year sentence for robbery, theft/embezzlement from an elder or dependent adult and grand theft at a county reentry program facility.—
Rachel Uranga,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Apr. 2025
-
Aimee had three ministerial assistants and a board of seven elders, along with 21 deacons — 14 of them women.—
Claire Hoffman,
Rolling Stone,
20 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“éminence grise.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/%C3%A9minence%20grise. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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