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
-
Any frustration the Greek shipping magnate felt was understandable.—
Paul Taylor,
New York Times,
12 May 2025
-
Descendants of Mary Lily Kenan – Henry Flagler’s third wife – continue the tradition begun in 1895, when the railroad magnate built the Palm Beach Inn on the site to complement his nearby Royal Poinciana Hotel.—
Thomas Swick,
Sun Sentinel,
6 May 2025
Noun
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The man who once mocked piety had become a moral touchstone; the scold of American pretensions now dined with tycoons.—
Lauren Michele Jackson,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2025
-
Some real estate tycoons, who are actively developing, have to fret over the cost of building materials.—
Dan Alexander,
Forbes.com,
19 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
The king is always right; his servants, not so much.—
Susan B. Glasser,
New Yorker,
1 May 2025
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The king traveled to Italy the following month with Queen Camilla for a four-day state visit that saw Charles deliver an address to the Italian parliament.—
William James,
USA Today,
1 May 2025
Noun
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Profitability—the point at which a film’s investors begin to see returns—is also of the utmost importance to studio bigwigs, sometimes to movie-lovers’ chagrin.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
25 Apr. 2025
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On Ransom Canyon, Minka Kelly's Quinn vacillates between feelings for wealthy rancher and town bigwig, Davis Collins (Eoin Macken), and longtime crush, salt-of-the-earth rancher, Staten Kirkland (Josh Duhamel).—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
EW.com,
18 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pooh-bah.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pooh-bah. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
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