poobah

Meanings

1. A person who holds multiple offices or positions of power at the same time.
2. A leader or other important person.
3. A pompous, self-important person.

Etymology

From Pooh-Bah, a comic character in the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta The Mikado (1885), formed as pooh + bah, both expressing contempt. The character of W. S. Gilbert's libretto is preceded by the character Pish-Tush-Pooh-Bah (described as “haughty”) in “King Borriah Bungalee Boo” (1866), one of the Bab Ballads, with pish and tush being two other terms of contempt.