poohbahs
Self-important authorities
Poohbahs are people who hold positions of importance, especially those who act self-importantly or pompously.
The term carries a mocking edge—it suggests someone who takes their authority more seriously than others do: The local poohbahs gathered to discuss the zoning changes.
Often used for officials, executives, or community leaders whose influence may be more ceremonial than substantial.
Influential, powerful people
- honchosInformal term for leaders
- kingpinsDominant figures in organizations
- powerbrokersThose controlling political outcomes
- overlordsSupreme authoritarian rulers
chieftains · bosses · brass · grandees · nabobs · mandarins · bureaucrats · administrators
Victorian operetta collaborators
- MikadoJapanese imperial title
- lampoonHarsh public mockery
- parodySatirical imitation
- caricatureExaggerated comic depiction
burlesque · send-up · spoof · mockery · ridicule · pomposity · buffoonery · farce
Hereditary ruling class
- bluebloodsHereditary upper class
- patriciansHereditary ruling class
- gentryHighborn but not noble
- nobilityTitled ruling class
upper-crust · establishment · insiders · cognoscenti · elite · privileged · exclusives · snobs
Loud, empty boasting
- self-importanceExaggerated sense of significance
- arroganceExcessive self-importance
- haughtinessDisdainful sense of superiority
- pretensionUnwarranted claim to merit
bombast · grandiosity · pontificating · condescension · superciliousness · snobbery · airs · stuffiness
bigwigs
Influential, powerful people
- honchosInformal term for leaders
- kingpinsDominant figures in organizations
- powerbrokersThose controlling political outcomes
overlords · chieftains · bosses · brass · grandees · nabobs · mandarins · bureaucrats · administrators · officials
Gilbert and Sullivan
Victorian operetta collaborators
caricature · burlesque · send-up · spoof · mockery · ridicule · pomposity · buffoonery · farce · self-important
aristocrats
Hereditary ruling class
- bluebloodsHereditary upper class
- patriciansHereditary ruling class
- gentryHighborn but not noble
nobility · upper-crust · establishment · insiders · cognoscenti · elite · privileged · exclusives · snobs · socialites
bluster
Loud, empty boasting
- self-importanceExaggerated sense of significance
- arroganceExcessive self-importance
- haughtinessDisdainful sense of superiority
pretension · bombast · grandiosity · pontificating · condescension · superciliousness · snobbery · airs · stuffiness · puffery
poohbahsunderlings
Lower-ranked employees
peons · minions · subordinates · nobodies · small fry