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Definition of panjandrum - 3 dictionary results

pan⋅jan⋅drum

  [pan-jan-druhm]
Use panjandrum in a Sentence
–noun
a self-important or pretentious official.
Origin:
1745–55; pseudo-Latin word (based on pan- ) coined by Samuel Foote (1720–77), English dramatist and actor
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pan·jan·drum   (pān-jān'drəm)   
n.  An important or self-important person: "a panjandrum of the publishing business" (Nat Hentoff).

[After the Grand Panjandrum, a character in a nonsense farrago written by Samuel Foote (1720-1777).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

panjandrum 
mock name for a pompous personage, 1755, invented by Samuel Foote (1720-77) to test the memory of actor old Macklin (who said he could repeat anything after hearing it once) in a long passage full of nonsense.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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