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grand poobah

(slang, idiomatic) An extremely pompous person.

ɡɹænd ˈpuːbɑːDocumented since 1880sSilenthistorical105 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
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Born ~1885 · no dated citations yet
1885BornToday, 2026

Definitions

#1·Apr 27, 2026

(slang, idiomatic) An extremely pompous person.

He once played golf with the grand poobah of their company.
Cluster: intensifier
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#2·Apr 27, 2026

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

He once played golf with the grand poobah of their company.
Origin: From Pooh-Bah, the name of a character in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Mikado (1885). Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
For parents

"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.

For ESL learners

"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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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.

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