variants
also poohing
as in dismissing
informal
to think or say that (something) is not very good or not true
They pooh-poohed my suggestion. He pooh-poohed the idea that the house was haunted.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pooh-poohing
Verb
-
But dismissing the rise in antisemitism as mere policing of speech about Israel is disingenuous and dangerous.—
Dafna Michaelson Jenet,
Denver Post,
12 Oct. 2025 -
Less than four months later, though, a California judge stopped her in her tracks, dismissing her entire complaint on a technicality.—
Nancy Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
House Speaker Mike Johnson is rejecting calls for Congress to hold a separate vote to pay military service members, who could miss paychecks next week if the government shutdown continues.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been adamant in rejecting the idea of an independent Palestinian state, and his polices over the years have often worked to undermine the PA, which aspires to govern a future State of Palestine.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Prizegivers have also in the past been accused of being snobbish, of having an anti-American bias and of ignoring some of the giants of literature, including Russia's Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, France's Emile Zola and Ireland's James Joyce.—
Simon Johnson,
USA Today,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Thom Harris found that some players are negating the tactic by simply ignoring it.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Pooh-poohing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pooh-poohing. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share