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
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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.
See Examples For:
Millie, who snapped a photo of the couple in their carriage, said their outfits "looked posh".
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Speaking afterwards, the cricketer said she was learning English and wanted to find out some posh words to use, suggesting "marvellous" as another example.
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
“Mummy, may I have one please? You see how she sounds so posh? Ha! My daughter will go places. That is why all our money is going to Brentwood School.”
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
These days, the 35-year-old’s gigs are at posher places such as London’s Royal Opera House and the Salzburg Festival.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
The late senator, herself raised in a well-heeled Jewish family from a posher part of town, just had a knack for showing she cared about her fellow San Franciscans, no matter their background, Chacón said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2023
It is in the posher end of what is a prosperous Cotswold spa town.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2023
His father was a doctor, and he grew up in one of the posher suburbs of Boston.
From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2021
If you just heard her voice next to Mum's you'd say Mum's posher.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
To say that Beacon Hill is the poshest part of Boston is not entirely true.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 2, 2023
Nichols’ covenants in Sunset Hill and Mission Hills, two of his poshest neighborhoods, were said by his company to have been copied in more than 50 cities.
From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2023
This is the diplomatic equivalent of getting out the poshest plates and cutlery to impress the visitors.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2022
A nature-inspired playground overlooks a sandy beach with the poshest park restrooms I’ve ever seen.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 26, 2021
Kingfisher Meadows's the poshest estate in Black Swan Green, most kids reckon.
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.
