Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1900-2000
Origin: Svengali, character who uses hypnotism to get control over people in the book Trilby (1894) by George Du Maurier

Svengali

 noun
     
Related topics: Occult
Sven‧ga‧li [countable]
RO a man who has the power to control people's minds and make them do bad or immoral things
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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