grand poobah

See also: Grand Poobah

English

Rutland Barrington, the original Pooh-Bah

Alternative forms

• Grand Poobah

Etymology

From Pooh-Bah, the name of a character in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Mikado (1885).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɹænd ˈpuːbɑː/

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Noun

grand poobah (plural grand poobahs)

1. (idiomatic, colloquial, often humorous) A person who is important or high-ranking.

   He once played golf with the grand poobah of their company.

2. An extremely pompous person.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:big cheese.

Related terms

• poobah

Further reading

• Grand Poobah on Wikipedia.Wikipedia