Poobah

//ˈpuːbɑː// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who holds multiple offices or positions of power at the same time.
  2. 2
    A leader or other important person.

    "‘I said pooh-pooh,’ Duxmann Pooh Bah said."

  3. 3
    A pompous, self-important person.

Synonyms

All synonyms
master of the universebaronbig cheesebig daddybig enchiladabig gun

Example

More examples

"‘I said pooh-pooh,’ Duxmann Pooh Bah said."

Etymology

From Pooh-Bah, a comic character in the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta The Mikado (1885), formed as pooh + bah, both expressing contempt. The character of W. S. Gilbert's libretto is preceded by the character Pish-Tush-Pooh-Bah (described as “haughty”) in “King Borriah Bungalee Boo” (1866), one of the Bab Ballads, with pish and tush being two other terms of contempt.

Related phrases

grand poobahdual mandate

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.