Definition:
1 : one holding many public or private offices
2 a : one in high position
b : one who gives the impression of being a person of importance
About the Word:
Readers of a certain age might be excused for thinking that the pooh-bah comes from the cartoon series The Flintstones. That show occasionally featured a 'grand poobah', who was a high-ranking member of a secret society. However, the roots of pooh-bah extend far beyond Saturday morning cartoons.
It originated in the Gilbert and Sullivan 1885 comic opera, The Mikado. The character of that name finds himself in possession of a wide variety of positions and offices, and is dubbed Lord-High-Everything-Else.
Example:
"Movie mogul Michael Medavoy, now the grand pooh-bah at Tri-Star pix, laid down this no-no: No movies with De Niro, Meryl Streep or Jessica Lange!" — Weekly World News, 7 Aug. 1990
