posh
1 Americanadjective
interjection
adjective
-
smart, elegant, or fashionable; exclusive
posh clothes
-
upper-class or genteel
adverb
Usage
What else does posh mean? The adjective posh means that something or someone is rich, fancy, or otherwise smells of money.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of posh1
1915–20; of obscure origin; compare posh a dandy (recorded as British slang in 1890); the popular notion that the word is an acronym from port out(ward) , starboard home, said to be the preferred accommodation on ships traveling between England and India, is without foundation
Origin of posh2
First recorded in 1920–25
Explanation
Things that are posh are swanky, fancy, and high-class. Posh things usually cost a lot of money, too. If something is dirty, cheap, and shoddy, it will never be accused of being posh. Posh things are elegant and expensive. A posh apartment is gorgeous and classy. A posh restaurant has fancy food and you probably have to dress up to go there. Posh places are luxurious and fancy-schmancy. So it's no surprise that rich people tend to like things and places that are posh.
Vocabulary lists containing posh
The War That Saved My Life
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Other Words for Home
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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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.
When the King looked rather like he was facing a very tricky spin attack, she suggested: "A posh word like 'lavatory'."
From BBC • Jun. 24, 2026
He owns a five-bedroom house in a posh neighborhood within the very posh town of Greenwich, where residents who want to fit in keep their grass “as short as a military haircut.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Although she has shed some of her Golden State holdings, she held on to one posh property in Beverly Hills.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
In April, he was staying at the posh Cayena Hotel in east Caracas, a popular haunt for bankers, diplomats and oilmen, as he met with Venezuelan government officials and Rodríguez.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
His voice was poshish but not as posh as Mum's put-on posh.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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.
