Meanings
plural muckety mucks · alternative muckety-muck · alternative muckity-muck
- UScolloquialA high muckamuck; a person (especially self-important) in a position of power, authority, or status.First known use 20th c.
Consequently, there have been times when the muckety-mucks at Merriam-Webster have requested that we all mark every third or fifth word in at least one source just to fill our files with words that would not usually catch our eye.
2017, Kory Stamper, Word By Word, Vintage, published 2018, page 88Synonyms: baron, big cheese, big enchilada, big gun, big kahuna, big man, big name, big noise
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA high muckamuck; a person (especially self-important) in a position of power, authority, or status.
Origin
Either a variant of muckamuck (the short form of high muckamuck), or a shortening of high muckety-muck. See the entry muckamuck.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
muckety muck. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/muckety%20muck
“muckety muck.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/muckety%20muck. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “muckety muck,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/muckety%20muck.
Source: muckety muck on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.