pooh-pooh

verb

ˈpü-(ˌ)pü 

pü-ˈpü

variants or less commonly poo-poo or pooh

ˈpü 

pooh-poohed also poohed; pooh-poohing also poohing; pooh-poohs also poohs

intransitive verb

: to express contempt or impatience

transitive verb

: to express contempt for or make light of : play down, dismiss

pooh-poohed my concerns

pooh-pooher noun

or less commonly poo-pooer

plural pooh-poohers also poo-pooers

Despite what chief Providence pooh-pooher Jack Thomas writes in the Globe, I say the place is worth regular visits, especially after a day at the beach in southern Rhode Island.

—Paul Fischer

Examples of pooh-pooh in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

One could be forgiven to pooh-pooh yet another play that lays out William Shakespeare’s bona fides as a hip-hop icon, the original bar spitter who beefed with plenty of his contemporaries while dropping sick flows all over Elizabethan England. — David John Chávez, Mercury News, 4 Feb. 2026

In Cleveland, see Jimmy Haslam scare off quality candidates and then pooh-pooh fresh faces brave enough to want to work for him. — Jerry Brewer, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2026

LaRoche tried to pooh-pooh the notion, and certainly did not wish Agent McGee to alarm his wife. — Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 14 Apr. 2025

But weather forecasters typically pooh-pooh their predictions. — Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 31 Jan. 2025

National Weather Service debunks woolly bear forecasting abilities Of course, the National Weather Service has come along to pooh-pooh the woolly bear's winter foresight, with its science and facts. — Chad Murphy, The Enquirer, 31 Oct. 2024

No wonder his officers pooh-pooh Haiti’s gangs as amateurs compared to their previous foes, like Al Shabaab – though the al Qaeda affiliate hasn’t been entirely vanquished back home in Kenya. — Caitlin Stephen Hu, CNN, 10 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

pooh

First Known Use

1823, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for pooh-pooh

• accrue
• ado
• ainu
• aircrew
• airscrew
• anew
• askew
• baboo
• babu
• bamboo
• beaucoup
• bijou

Kids Definition

pooh-pooh

verb

ˈpü-pü, 

pü-ˈpü

variants also pooh

ˈpü

1

: to express scorn or impatience

2

: to treat with scorn : deride

pooh-pooh the idea of ghosts