variants
also poo-bah
as in heavyweight
one of high position or importance within a group
an annual clambake that attracts political pooh-bahs from around the state
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Recent Examples of pooh-bah
This kind of surgical enhancement can still be frowned upon in the restoration world, decried as fakery by the pooh-bahs of all-original-everything.
—
Lawrence Ulrich, Robb Report, 13 July 2024
To Richardson-Merrell’s pooh-bahs, her scrutiny seemed like the dilatory work of someone who didn’t know how the game was played.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2024
Like Joe Rogan, the carnivorous pooh-bah of this intellectual space, Brand appeared interested in teaching a certain kind of man how to be a certain kind of man, mining the tension between think-for-yourself riffs and listen-to-me conclusions.
—Matt Flegenheimer, New York Times, 13 Nov. 2023
But the pooh-bahs in Brussels didn’t exactly rush to say yes.
—Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 25 Oct. 2023
Lawrence Ulrich, Robb Report, 13 July 2024
To Richardson-Merrell’s pooh-bahs, her scrutiny seemed like the dilatory work of someone who didn’t know how the game was played.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2024
Like Joe Rogan, the carnivorous pooh-bah of this intellectual space, Brand appeared interested in teaching a certain kind of man how to be a certain kind of man, mining the tension between think-for-yourself riffs and listen-to-me conclusions.
—Matt Flegenheimer, New York Times, 13 Nov. 2023
But the pooh-bahs in Brussels didn’t exactly rush to say yes.
—Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 25 Oct. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pooh-bah
Noun
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Around the same time, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, a real estate magnate who has been heavily involved in the negotiations with Russia, mused about the possibilities for U.S.-Russian collaboration in an interview with the commentator Tucker Carlson.—
Stacie E. Goddard,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Apr. 2025
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Zuckerberg, who was recently revealed as the buyer of a $23 million mansion with a 10-minute commute to the White House, is but the latest of the Silicon Valley magnates flocking to the area’s high-end homes, making ripples in the luxury real estate market as well as in politics.—
Katie Schultz,
Architectural Digest,
17 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Sue Ellen, who was married to philandering oil tycoon J.R.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
26 Apr. 2025
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About 60 years earlier, railroad tycoon Leland Stanford had founded the university on his stock farm in Palo Alto, a sparsely populated town in a region where apricot and peach trees outnumbered houses.—
Mark Dent,
HubSpot,
25 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The Prince of Wales’ attendance in place of the King is a modern tradition, and a statement to further establish William’s role as future king.—
Callum Sutherland,
Time,
24 Apr. 2025
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Charlotte on the other hand will likely be the future daughter or sister of a future king.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Join 13 others in the comments View Comments Apart from more details on the reserve, industry bigwigs (who’ve long complained that the Biden administration was strangling crypto) are looking forward to some basic regulatory guidance.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN,
7 Mar. 2025
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With that in mind, backing new filmmakers with wild projects and bucking the kind of risk aversion that seems to govern modern Hollywood comes down to intuition — and maybe pissing off a few industry bigwigs along the way.—
Chris Lee,
Vulture,
3 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pooh-bah.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pooh-bah. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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