throttlebottom

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noun

An incompetent holder of a public office.

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Meanings

nounthrottlebottom (plural throttlebottoms)

plural throttlebottoms

  1. derogatoryAn incompetent holder of a public office.

    [...] to puzzle through the plans for their current project, rehash a controversy on the airport board, growl about some throttlebottom at city hall [...]

    2005 June 1, Susan Edsall, Into the Blue: A Father's Flight and a Daughter's Return, New York: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN

Origin

From the book Of Thee I Sing, by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, in which Mr. Alexander Throttlebottom runs for vice-president of the United States.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish turhapuro
  • turhapuroincompetent public officer
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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