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Synonyms

posh

1 American  
[posh] / pɒʃ /

adjective

  1. sumptuously furnished or appointed; luxurious.

    a posh apartment.
posh 2 American  
[posh] / pɒʃ /

interjection

  1. (used as an exclamation of contempt or disgust.)

posh British  
/ pɒʃ /

adjective

  1. smart, elegant, or fashionable; exclusive

    posh clothes

  2. upper-class or genteel

"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

adverb

  1. in a manner associated with the upper class

    to talk posh
"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

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

  • poshness noun

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

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.

“Balthy,” as he calls himself, attends a posh private high school but has no friends.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

Zlotowski blends the posh, formal rigor of the former with the stylistic panache and sexy intrigue of the latter, but with a flair and distinct femininity that culminates in some truly breathtaking narrative detours.

From Salon • Jan. 18, 2026

His 18th-century forerunners, the London macaroni and the Paris incroyable, had one foot in the court and the other in the city street, but the dandy, posh or not, lived in a middle-class, democratic society.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026

All of its posh shops still are shut: Erewhon, Bay Theater, Blue Ribbon Sushi, athletic apparel store Alo, Buck Mason men’s and Veronica Beard women’s boutiques.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 2026

Her stepfather's farmhouse is the opposite of 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.