grand poobah
(slang, idiomatic) An extremely pompous person.
Etymology timeline
Born ~1885 · no dated citations yetDefinitions
(slang, idiomatic) An extremely pompous person.
He once played golf with the grand poobah of their company.
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(idiomatic, colloquial, often, humorous) A person who is important or high-ranking.
He once played golf with the grand poobah of their company.
"grand poobah" means: A person who is important or high-ranking.. There is a drug-related reference, so this is one worth noticing without overreacting. Many teens encounter such vocabulary through music, film and friends without any direct involvement. A neutral, curious conversation about where they heard the term and what they understand by it is far more useful than a confrontation. Watch for repeated context, not a single word.
"grand poobah" means: A person who is important or high-ranking.. Register: informal slang, fine in casual conversation, texting and social media but not in academic essays, business writing or formal speech. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
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