spinmeister
noun (English-German portmanteau word)

- a person who publicizes favourable interpretations of the words and actions of a public figure, especially a politician

The American Heritage Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

In the expression “spinmeister”, "spin" refers to the art of presenting news or information in a way that creates a favourable impression. This may have originated from the old sailor’s expression “to spin a yarn”, which means to tell an exaggerated story.

Spinmeisters are often public relations professionals who work for politicians and other public figures. They are like cosmeticians, but instead of relying on make-up to create a nice appearance, they spin words a certain way.

As American historian Daniel J. Boorstin once said: “Some people are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.”

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MEISTER-WORDS

The German word “Meister” has been imported into English, where it is used in compound nouns like “spinmeister” to denote a person’s expertise in a particular art, skill, or profession.

“Meister-words” are often intended to be negative or cynical:

- cheesemeister = a promoter of cheesy (melodramatic or cliché) material

- crapmeister = a person who is worthless or who says nothing of value

- fraudmeister = a skillful thief

- gagmeister = a joker or comedian

- greedmeister = an extremely greedy and powerful person

- partymeister = a person who hosts parties

- rapmeister = a highly skilled rapper

- schlockmeister = an author, film director, etc. who produces tasteless and inferior works

- tunemeister = a composer of tunes; a tunesmith

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SYNONYMS

- a person who influences, especially on social media

advocate, brainwasher, campaigner, endorser, influencer, mouthpiece, plugger, promoter, propagandist, public relations expert, publicist, spin doctor, SPINMEISTER, spokesperson, standard-bearer

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