pooh-bah
noun
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The original Pooh-Bah was an arrogant, buffoonish bureaucrat introduced in the 1885 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Mikado. In that show, the character Pooh-Bah, whose title is "Lord High Everything Else," very "humbly" agrees to accept several important government offices (and their salaries) after a series of officials resign. He'll do anything if the bribe is big enough, and he loves to strut and show off to anyone who might be impressed by his grandeur. It didn't take English speakers long to adopt pooh-bah as a term for someone who holds either many offices or a high position, and the word still often carries a suggestion of pompousness.
Synonyms
- big
- big boy
- big cheese
- big gun
- big leaguer
- big shot
- big wheel
- big-timer
- bigfoot
- biggie
- bigwig
- fat cat
- heavy
- heavy hitter
- heavyweight
- high-muck-a-muck
- high-muckety-muck
- honcho
- kahuna
- kingfish
- kingpin
- major leaguer
- muckety-muck
- muck-a-muck
- mucky-muck
- nabob
- nawab
- nibs
- nob [chiefly British]
- wheel
Word History
Pooh-Bah, character in Gilbert and Sullivan's opera The Mikado (1885) bearing the title Lord-High-Everything-Else
1886, in the meaning defined at sense 1
pooh-bahs
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- heavyweights
- magnates
- tycoons
- mucky-mucks
- bigwigs
- kings
- nabobs
- muckety-mucks
- wheels
- honchos
- biggies
- high-muckety-mucks
- muck-a-mucks
- princes
- kahunas
- nawabs
- big shots
- big guns
- big boys
- nobs
- heavy hitters
- major leaguers
- big wheels
- big leaguers
- bigs
- kingpins
- czars
- big-timers
- heavies
- moguls
- nibs
- big cheeses
- bigfeet
- kingfish
- barons
- high-muck-a-mucks
- bigfoots
- princesses
- queens
- fat cats
- lions
- tzars
- tsars
- VIPs
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- lightweights
- zeroes
- zeros
- shrimp
- whippersnappers
- nonentities
- underlings
- nobodies
- subordinates
- shrimps
- inferiors
- twerps
- mediocrities
- zilches
- obscurities