high-muck-a-muck
[ hahy-muhk-uh-muhk, -muhk-uh-muhk ]
nounInformal.
an important, influential, or high-ranking person, especially one who is pompous or conceited.
Origin of high-muck-a-muck
1First recorded in 1855–60; from Chinook Jargon hayo makamak, hiyu muckamuck, literally, “plenty to eat, much food,” perhaps extended derisively to Indigenous people of high status with much disposable wealth, as for potlatches; hayo, from Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) ḥayo “ten” (the base of various measures with suffixes for specific countable nouns); mak(a)mak “eat, food,” from Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) ma·ḥo·ma(q-) “part of whale meat between blubber and flesh”
- Also called muck-a-muck.
- Also high-muck·y-muck [hahy-muhk-ee-muhk, -muhk-ee-muhk], /ˈhaɪˌmʌk iˈmʌk, -ˈmʌk iˌmʌk/, high-muck·e·ty-muck [hahy-muhk-i-tee-muhk, -muhk-i-tee-muhk]. /ˈhaɪˌmʌk ɪ tiˈmʌk, -ˈmʌk ɪ tiˌmʌk/.
Words Nearby high-muck-a-muck
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
British Dictionary definitions for high-muck-a-muck
high-muck-a-muck
noun
a conceited or haughty person
Origin of high-muck-a-muck
1C19: from Chinook Jargon hiu muckamuck, literally: plenty (of) food
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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