influencer
noun/ˈɪnflu.ənsə(ɹ)/ · /-ˌɛnsə(ɹ)/
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Italic *en Proto-Italic *en- Latin in- Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der. Proto-Indo-European *bʰlewH-der. Proto-Indo-European *bʰluH-yé-ti? Latin fluō Latin īnfluōder. Latin īnfluēns Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Medieval Latin īnfluentiabor. Old French influenceder. Middle English influence English influence Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English influencer From influence + -er.
A person who or a thing which influences.
Business, Marketing A person who is able to influence consumption, lifestyle, or political preferences of their online audience by creating or engaging with social media content, often as a part of a marketing campaign.
- By now you have probably heard of influencers, that group of internet-famous people who have more than a million social media followers and can make big money by plugging various brands. And you may have even heard of microinfluencers, who do the same thing for a still sizable but somewhat smaller social media audience — from the tens to low hundreds of thousands.2018 November 11, Sapna Maheshwari, “Are You Ready for the Nanoinfluencers?”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2020:
- The idea of an influencer economy or streaming economy might have caused eyes to roll just a couple years ago, but the reality is that this segment of the economy is growing fast. More importantly, it is the part of the economy (and type of engagement) that is most appealing to the increasingly important millennial and Gen-Z cohorts.2020 August 4, Sean Stein Smith, “Blockchain, TikTok, And The Influencer Economy - What Are The Connections?”, in Forbes, archived from the original on 07 Aug 2020:
3 more examples
- Over the past year, mansions full of young influencers have proliferated across the United States (in Los Angeles, Dallas and Las Vegas) and around the world (France, the U.K., Mexico, Spain and Russia).2020 December 11, Taylor Lorenz, “The New Influencer Capital of America”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 15 Dec 2020:
- The idea of an alleged Epstein "list" was turbocharged by Trump's own inner circle, most notably by Bondi herself. In a February interview with Fox News, she claimed, "The list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients is sitting on my desk." Her remark, quickly amplified by right-wing influencers, fueled weeks of speculation online and in MAGA circles.2025 July 10, Jesus Mesa, “'We've Been Played': MAGA Faces Its Own Disappointment With Trump”, in Newsweek, archived from the original on 12 Jul 2025:
- Acutis, the London-born Italian who on Sunday will become the Catholic church’s first millennial saint, built websites to spread Catholic teaching, earning him the nickname “God’s Influencer” after his death, aged 15, from leukaemia.2025 September 6, Angela Giuffrida, “Pope prepares to canonise London-born teenager nicknamed ‘God’s influencer’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
- Synonyms
- thought leader, trendsetter
- Derived terms
- bizfluencer, cringefluencer, dogfluencer, dumbfluencer, fatfluencer, gymfluencer, influencer marketing, LinkedInfluencer, macroinfluencer, meatfluencer, newsfluencer, petfluencer
- Hyponyms
- agfluencer, cleanfluencer, deathfluencer, digital influencer, finfluencer, fitfluencer, kidfluencer, megainfluencer, microinfluencer, micro-influencer, momfluencer, mumfluencer, noninfluencer, skinfluencer, thinkfluencer