A man who takes hold of another person's mind and uses them — usually to make that person do things that are wrong, or to make money and take the credit. The word carries a whole picture with it: someone older and cleverer standing behind someone younger and talented, controlling them completely, so that the famous one is really a puppet. You see it most in writing about music, film and politics: a young singer and the manager who 'made' her, a leader and the adviser who is said to be pulling the strings. It is always an insult to the man, and it quietly takes something away from the person he controls too — it says their success was not really theirs, which is often unfair. Journalists love the word, so it appears in newspapers more than in conversation. Say it sven-GAH-lee. You will see it written with a capital S because it began as a name, though 'a Svengali' with 'a' in front is normal now.

幕後操控者、控制別人心智的人；台灣常說「背後那隻手」「操控／擺布別人的人」。翻成「軍師」太正面，這個詞是貶義的。