English Explanatory Dictionary

mugwump

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A (male) leader; an important (male) person.
  2. A member of the Republican Party who declined to support the party's nominee James G. Blaine (1830–1893) during the 1884 United States presidential election, believing him to be corrupt, and instead supported the Democratic Party's candidate Grover Cleveland (1837–1908).
  3. A person who purports to stay aloof from party politics.
  4. One who switches from supporting one political party to another, especially for personal benefit.
  5. A person who stays neutral or non-committal; a fence sitter; also, a person who maintains an aloof and often self-important demeanour.
  6. A foolish person.
verb
  1. To behave like a mugwump.
  2. To purport to stay aloof and independent, especially from party politics.
noun
  1. Alternative letter-case form of mugwump.

Pronunciation

/ˈmʌɡwʌmp/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mugwump.wav /ˈmʌɡˌwʌmp/ [ˈməɡˌwəmp]

Word forms

mugwump mugwumps mugwumping mugwumped

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Massachusett mugquomp, mummugquomp (“war leader”). Folk etymology reinterpreted it as referring to a person who sat on the fence with their mug (“face”) on one side and wump (“rump”) on the other, which influenced political cartoons during the 1884 United States presidential election. The verb is derived from the noun.

Synonyms

baron big cheese big enchilada big gun big kahuna big man big name big noise big shot bigwig big wheel boss grand poobah head honcho heavy hitter heavyweight high muckamuck high muckety-muck king of all one surveys king of the castle king of the hill kingpin macher mayor muckamuck muckety muck mugwump numero uno panjandrum poobah rooster somebody top banana top boy top cat top dog top gun very important person VIP wheel

Antonyms

absolute zero also-ran chopped liver cipher crumb Joe Nobody little guy minnow nebbish nobody no one nothing nothingburger nonentity picayune pip-squeak pleb peon prole puny quidam rinky-dink shrimp wankstain zero zilch

Derived words

mugwumpery mugwumpian mugwumpish mugwumpism
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