brouhaha

[broo-hah-hah, broo-hah-hah, broo-hah-hah]

noun

1. excited public interest, discussion, or the like, as the clamor attending some sensational event; hullabaloo.

   The brouhaha followed disclosures of graft at City Hall.

2. 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.

brouhaha

/ ˈbruːhɑːhɑː /

noun

1. a loud confused noise; commotion; uproar

Word History and Origins

Origin of brouhaha¹

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)

Word History and Origins

Origin of brouhaha¹

French, of imitative origin

Example Sentences

"But obviously this creates a brouhaha because you're taking over some space that people are already using for cars," he adds.

Read more on BBC

And then he buckled down to insist that this brouhaha around his comments only proved that Islamophobia runs wild in New York.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

So far, though, he hasn’t announced a hearing or even sent a sternly-worded letter; since commenting on the FCC-Kimmel brouhaha, he has, instead, released two more episodes of his podcast.

Read more on Salon

Amid the brouhaha that followed a wild night inside Belfast's SSE Arena, it was easy to forget that Crocker had won.

Read more on BBC

Despite the brouhaha over Hope/Sow #753, officials said there has not been a huge uptick in bear conflict this summer in Lake Tahoe.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fracas 
• melee