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
-
Mimran, the son of billionaire sugar magnate Jean-Claude Mimran, had offered to serve as a third-party guarantor for an untitled ca.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
17 July 2025
-
The residence was purchased in the 1970s for just $900,000 by the late radio concert promoter and radio station magnate Ken Roberts, who wound up relinquishing it to the financial services firm New Stream Capital in 2010 to settle a $27.5 million legal claim.—
Wendy Bowman,
Robb Report,
15 July 2025
Noun
-
The Indian tycoon and To Lam, general secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party, met in Hanoi yesterday.—
Yessar Rosendar,
Forbes.com,
31 July 2025
-
Citizen Kane tells the story of a publishing tycoon named Charles Foster Kane, a character Welles based on William Randolph Hearst.—
Sonja Anderson,
Smithsonian Magazine,
18 July 2025
Noun
-
Rooms incorporate natural accents, king beds and marble bathrooms with soaking tubs.—
Taryn White,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
-
Be sure to catch the marksmanship competition during which festival participants shoot at a wooden eagle to determine the festival's king and queen.—
Keith Pandolfi,
The Enquirer,
30 July 2025
Noun
-
One of them is Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), a shady pharmaceuticals bigwig who wants to develop the world’s most effective heart medication using dinosaur blood samples.—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
30 June 2025
-
Several months later, on the day that Antonin and Agathe open Patisserie Carême, Antonin and Talleyrand learn that they’re both being packed off to the war together, where they’ll be tasked with feeding the army bigwigs and other duties (espionage, probably) as assigned.—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
11 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pooh-bah.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pooh-bah. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
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