Pooh Bah

or pooh bah, Pooh-Ba, poo·bah

[ poo bah ]

noun

1. a person who holds several positions, especially ones that give bureaucratic importance.
2. a leader, authority, or other important person:

   one of the Pooh Bahs of the record industry.

3. a pompous, self-important person.

Pooh-Bah

/ ˈpuːˈbɑː /

noun

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

Pooh-Bah

1. 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pooh Bah¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pooh Bah¹

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

Example Sentences

Behind the scenes, unknown to me, Pooh Bah had fainted, and one of his entrances had to be made by Pish Tush.

From Project Gutenberg

It happened in the second act where Ko-Ko, Pooh Bah and Pitti Sing are prostrate on the floor in the presence of the Emperor.

From Project Gutenberg

"Your words, Mrs. Dale, give me an idea; I wonder if he would pose as 'Pooh Bah,' and pocket an insult, in the shape of a bribe, to give our dear friend her freedom."

From Project Gutenberg

Even at thirty, she has had years of trouble; has been dragged in the dust under Fortune's wheel, that others might ride aloft at her expense; earning her "dinner of herbs" that "Pooh Bah" in the plural, may have the "stalled ox."

From Project Gutenberg

And taking another hack, "Pooh, Bah!" quieting his scruples by pocketing a double insult they are off.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• celebrity
• dignitary
• luminary