High muckety-muck

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Meaning

An important or powerful person, usually mentioned with mockery rather than respect. Informal and mildly disparaging Regional use: Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada, later broader North America.

Origin

A Pacific Northwest expression filtered through Chinook Jargon. Muck-a-muck meant food or eating, probably from a Nuu-chah-nulth source, while hiyu meant much or plenty; English speakers reshaped hiyu as high. High muck-a-muck was applied to prominent people by 1856, perhaps through the high-status host of a potlatch, and muckety-muck appears by 1882. The Indigenous and contact-language history should be credited, not caricatured.

Variants

  • high muck-a-muck
  • high muckamuck
  • muck-a-muck
  • muckety-muck

Usage Examples

  • Some high muckety-muck from headquarters reserved the entire top floor.
  • The committee's muck-a-mucks arrived late and still expected front-row seats.

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