Charisma is the magnetic personal power that draws crowds to a leader. Natural charisma, real charisma, no charisma at all.
It is easier to recognise than to define, and attempts to teach it mostly fail. Max Weber made charismatic authority one of his three types of legitimate rule, alongside tradition and law, which is why the word is standard in political science. The original sense is theological — a gift of grace — and charismatic churches are named from that. Note charismatic.
1nouncharismaThe magnetic personal power that draws people to a leader.
“The young candidate had such charisma that crowds cheered wherever she went.”
charisma is a personal quality.
Greek charisma means a gift or favour, from charis, grace. The theological sense came first, and Weber's use in 1922 gave it the political one.
Ancient Greek
χᾰ́ρῐσμᾰ — grace, favour, gift
English, today
charisma
Built from
From Ancient Greek χᾰ́ρῐσμᾰ (“grace, favour, gift”), from χᾰρῐ́ζομαι (“to show favor”), from χᾰ́ρῐς (“grace”), from the same root χαρ- as χαίρω (“to be happy”). a doublet of charism. 1875. Outside of theology, as early as 1930, charisma was found in a translation of a book written by German sociologist Max Weber, which OED and Etymonline regards as a Charisma, denoting the special ability of certain leaders to inspire devotion (gift of leadership). By the 1940s and more clearly in the 1950s, the term was used more loosely to refer to personal charm in general (charm).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA