high-muck-a-muck

[hahy-muhk-uh-muhk, -muhk-uh-muhk]

high-muck-a-muck

[hahy-muhk-uh-muhk, -muhk-uh-muhk]
noun
an important, influential, or high-ranking person, especially one who is pompous or conceited.
Also, high-muck·y-muck [hahy-muhk-ee-muhk, -muhk-ee-muhk] , high-muck·e·ty-muck [hahy-muhk-i-tee-muhk, -muhk-i-tee-muhk] .
Also called muck-a-muck.


Origin:
1855–60; < Chinook Jargon hayo makamak literally, plenty to eat, much food, perhaps extended derisively to Indians of high status with much disposable wealth, as for potlatches; hayo < Nootka ḥayo ten (the base of various measures with suffixes for specific countable nouns); mak(a)mak eat, food < Nootka ma·ḥo·ma(q-) part of whale meat between blubber and flesh
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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High-muck-a-muck is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Collins
World English Dictionary
high-muck-a-muck
 
n
a conceited or haughty person
 
[C19: from Chinook Jargon hiu muckamuck, literally: plenty (of) food]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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