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pooh-poohing

verb

variants also poohing
present participle of pooh-pooh
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.

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pooh-poohing
  1. dismissing
  2. rejecting
  3. ignoring
Verb
  • Without billions in funding and a stadium site, the rest is flowery prose, but there is no sense in dismissing any potential bidder a year or two before the bidding opens.
    — Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2026
  • While speaking with Entertainment Weekly in September 2026, Mirren praised working with Brosnan and Hardy, dismissing rumors of tension on set with the latter.
    — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of dismissing
Verb
  • The trend is less about rejecting smartphones and more about choosing which parts of them to keep.
    — Ashley Lynch, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026
  • The trend is less about rejecting technology than deciding how much attention a phone deserves.
    — Ashley Lynch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of rejecting
Verb
  • This leaves plenty of room for optimistic interpretation of just how much sleep many get, while ignoring factors such as sleep fragmentation or durations of sleep stages.
    — Mike McRae September 17, New Atlas, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The stock is bucking its own sector and ignoring the broader market noise, and that kind of independence is worth paying attention to.
    — Josh Brown,Sean Russo, CNBC, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of ignoring
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.

Browse Nearby Words

pooh-poohed
pooh-poohing
pooh-poohs
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Cite this Entry

“Pooh-poohing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pooh-poohing. Accessed 25 Sep. 2026.

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