mugwump
(chiefly, humorous) A (male) leader; an important (male) person.
Etymology timeline
Born ~1884 · no dated citations yet19th centurySee decade cohort →
Definitions
Australia
#1·Apr 27, 2026AUS
(chiefly, humorous) A (male) leader; an important (male) person.
Anthea hasn't a notion in her head but to vamp a lot of silly mugwumps. She's set her heart on that tennis bloke [...] whom the papers are making such a fuss about.
Origin: The is borrowed from , mummugquomp. reinterpreted it as referring to a person who sat on the fence with their mug on one side and wump on the other, which influenced political cartoons during the 1884 United States presidential election. The is derived from the noun. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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Australia
#2·Apr 27, 2026AUS
(Australia, US, by extension, colloquial, somewhat, derogatory) A person who stays neutral or non-committal; a fence sitter; also, a person who maintains an aloof and often self-important demeanour.
Anthea hasn't a notion in her head but to vamp a lot of silly mugwumps. She's set her heart on that tennis bloke [...] whom the papers are making such a fuss about.
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Australia
#3·Apr 27, 2026AUS
(Australia) A foolish person.
Anthea hasn't a notion in her head but to vamp a lot of silly mugwumps. She's set her heart on that tennis bloke [...] whom the papers are making such a fuss about.
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