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
-
Shuna later passed through the hands of film and shipping magnates before becoming the romantic escape of the Viscountess Selby and WWII Pathfinder Donald Wells.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
20 June 2025
-
The net worth of footwear magnate Zhang Congyuan, who was Taiwan’s richest person three years ago, shrank by $1.8 billion to $8.3 billion, registering the biggest decline in dollar terms.—
Jane Ho,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
Noun
-
Plenty of world leaders, business tycoons, and tech titans share their top reads every year.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
25 June 2025
-
Reuters — Vietnam will remove the death penalty for eight offenses from next month, including embezzlement and activities aimed at overthrowing the government, parliament said on Wednesday, sparing the life of a tycoon in a $12 billion fraud case.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
25 June 2025
Noun
-
Fought from 1701 to 1714, the conflict centered on who would inherit the Spanish throne after the Habsburg king Charles II died without an heir.—
Aurora Martínez,
Smithsonian Magazine,
23 June 2025
-
The Oklahoma City Thunder are the new kings of the NBA.—
Ricardo Klein,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 June 2025
Noun
-
Kevin's wife Bella (Lara Pulver) is meeting her estranged dad, an apparent government bigwig with powerful friends.—
Matt Cabral,
EW.com,
6 Apr. 2025
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Programmatic ads from a number of prominent companies, including tech stalwarts like Asana and Oracle, ecommerce bigwig Net-A-Porter, makeup giant Sephora, and resort chain Kalahari Resorts, appeared while WIRED was monitoring these websites.—
Kate Knibbs,
WIRED,
15 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pooh-bah.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pooh-bah. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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