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Barnum

American

[bahr-nuhm] / ˈbɑr nəm /

noun

P(hineas) T(aylor), 1810–91, U.S. showman who established a circus in 1871.

Barnum British

/ ˈbɑːnəm /

noun

P ( hineas ) T ( aylor ). 1810–91, US showman, who created The Greatest Show on Earth (1871) and, with J. A. Bailey, founded the Barnum and Bailey Circus (1881)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Barnum

“From our perspective, through all the various dimensions, there’s not that much there in terms to support the K-shape narrative,” Barnum said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Barnum, they were up front about it all.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

It was Barnum who said not only that a sucker was born every minute, but that you should “never give a sucker an even break.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

Barnum, there is definitely such a thing as bad publicity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

New Yorkers who attended a Fox sisters’ circle were led from the Barnum Hotel’s lobby, down a series of marble hallways to one of its largest parlors.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023