Pooh Bah

or Pooh-Ba, poo·bah

[ poo -bah ]

/ ˈpu ˌbɑ /

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noun (often lowercase)

a person who holds several positions, especially ones that give him or her bureaucratic importance.

a leader, authority, or other important person: one of the pooh bahs of the record industry.

a pompous, self-important person.

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Origin of Pooh Bah

First recorded in 1880–85; after a character in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, who holds all of the high offices of state simultaneously and uses them for personal gain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for Pooh Bah

Chernon Bah, co-founder of A World at School, was alarmed by what she witnessed recently in Sierra Leone.
The Radio Battle to Educate Ebola’s Kids|Abby Haglage|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sharp always wanted to be an actor: his first role, aged 7, was as Piglet in Winnie-The-Pooh.
The Brit Who Stormed Broadway|Tim Teeman|December 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At a conference in London the following week, a senior retired U.S. Air Force commander pooh-poohed counterstealth efforts.
How China Will Track—and Kill—America’s Newest Stealth Jets|Bill Sweetman|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When his fellow panelists pushed back, he proceeded to pooh-pooh all those “experts” who have said otherwise.
George Will, Fox News, and the Beginning of an Ebola Conspiracy|Russell Saunders|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The pope may pooh-pooh the decision to remain childless, but the world needs more people who choose pets over kids.
Pope Francis Is Wrong About My Child-Free Life|Amanda Marcotte|June 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Father generally pooh-poohs the notion of there being any further trouble with Germany.
The Doctor of Pimlico|William Le Queux
Pooh, they are only bogys invented by priests in days of darkness, in order to obtain power.
The Everlasting Arms|Joseph Hocking
Finding that the wire fence would not yield she said "Bah-wah" and started in another direction.
The Red Cow and Her Friends|Peter McArthur
He can't be after any mischief; 'tis not in the boy; when—when he is all but—Pooh!
The Heir of Redclyffe|Charlotte M. Yonge
She is as rotten and ricketty as an old tub; and very little—Bah!
The Tiger Hunter|Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for Pooh Bah

Pooh-Bah

/ (ˈpuːˈbɑː) /

noun

a pompous self-important official holding several offices at once and fulfilling none of them

Word Origin for Pooh-Bah

C19: after the character, the Lord-High-Everything-Else, in The Mikado (1885), a light opera by Gilbert and Sullivan

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

Cultural definitions for Pooh Bah

Pooh-Bah

A self-important person of high position and great influence. Pooh-Bah is a character in Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta The Mikado; his title is Lord-High-Everything-Else.

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