Hypnotist close to tears, maybe leaving (8)
I believe the answer is:
svengali
'hypnotist' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'close to tears maybe leaving' is the wordplay.
'close to' says to take the final letters (the close/ending of).
'maybe' is an anagram indicator.
The final letter of 'tears' is 's'.
'leaving' with letters rearranged gives 'vengali'.
's'+'vengali'='SVENGALI'
(Other definitions for svengali that I've seen before include "Sinister character" , "One exerting evil mental control over another" , "Sinister manipulator" , "in novel form" , "Evil person - leavings (anag)" .)