brouhaha
Americannoun
-
excited public interest, discussion, or the like, as the clamor attending some sensational event; hullabaloo.
The brouhaha followed disclosures of graft at City Hall.
-
an episode involving excitement, confusion, turmoil, etc., especially a broil over a minor or ridiculous cause.
A brouhaha by the baseball players resulted in three black eyes.
noun
Etymology
Origin of brouhaha
First recorded in 1885–90; from French, originally, brou, ha, ha! exclamation used by characters representing the devil in16th-century drama; perhaps from Hebrew, distortion of the recited phrase bārūkh habbā (beshēm ădōnai) “blessed is he who comes (in the name of the Lord)” (Psalms 118:26)
Explanation
Brouhaha is something that people think is really important that’s actually not important at all, like the brouhaha over some new celebrity gossip. Brouhaha seems like a big deal, but it’s a bunch of baloney. Brouhaha has two meanings, and tons of funny-sounding synonyms. The title of the Shakespeare play gives one meaning: "Much Ado about Nothing." The brouhaha over the latest Hollywood comedy might make you never want to see it. It's just fuss and hullabaloo about a movie that can’t possibly be good anyway. Brouhaha also means a loud noise coming from all over the place, like the brouhaha after a sporting event: hubbub and katzenjammer echoing loudly through the streets.
Vocabulary lists containing brouhaha
Mayhem! Chaos! Pandemonium!
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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Ungifted
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Since then, however, and even before this latest brouhaha, the shares have begun to struggle.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026
This is something far more daffy and useless: The brouhaha over unrequited affections between Seattle Mariners at the World Baseball Classic.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026
With the Greenland brouhaha sidelined for now, investors can look ahead to a big week of earnings as about a fifth of S&P 500 companies will report, including four of the Magnificent Seven.
From Barron's • Jan. 25, 2026
"But obviously this creates a brouhaha because you're taking over some space that people are already using for cars," he adds.
From BBC • Nov. 15, 2025
After years and years of tribulation and controversy, and the brouhaha about the match, Fischer had arrived at the threshold of his lifelong goal.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
