poobah

P3O1O1B3A1H4
/ˈpuːbɑː/

noun

A person who holds multiple offices or positions of power at the same time.

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Meanings

nounpoobah (plural poobahs)

plural poobahs · alternative pooh bah · alternative pooh-bah · alternative poo bah · alternative poo-bah · alternative Poo-Bah · alternative Pooh-Bah

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

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

    1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 112
  3. A pompous, self-important person.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
grand fromage

Origin

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.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

poobah. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poobah

MLA

“poobah.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poobah. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “poobah,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poobah.

Source: poobah on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.