brouhaha

American  

[broo-hah-hah, broo-hah-hah, broo-hah-hah] / ˈbru hɑˌhɑ, ˌbru hɑˈhɑ, bruˈhɑ hɑ /

noun

• brouhahas
  plural

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.

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brouhaha British  

/ ˈbruːhɑːhɑː /

noun

1. a loud confused noise; commotion; uproar

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• brouhahas
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brouhaha brouhahas

This goes all kinds of wrong, setting off a viral brouhaha and turning the hapless Owen into an unwitting pariah.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

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

Russian composers like Tchaikovsky mostly treated the brouhaha surrounding Wagner’s music dramas with disdain.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Gates’ brouhaha was one of four brouhahas from Tuesday’s morning session that coaches didn’t find very funny as they were unfolding.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 15, 2023

Thornton, who didn’t speak after the game, has been in beard brouhahas before.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2018

By the 1910s, partisan brouhahas had evaporated almost entirely from sporting events.

From Slate ● Jan. 2, 2018

Recent years have produced similar brouhahas about whether serving sushi, or wearing kimonos, sombreros or hijabs, amounts to oppression, invasion or even just benign appreciation of other cultures’ traditions and innovations.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 5, 2016

In one of the first of several brouhahas that erupt, Claude is coaxed into a retirement home.

From New York Times ● Oct. 19, 2012

Related Words

• fracas
• melee