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Definition of posh - 5 dictionary results
posh
1
[posh] 
–adjective
| sumptuously furnished or appointed; luxurious: a posh apartment. |
Origin:
1915–20; of obscure orig.; cf.posha dandy (recorded as British slang in 1890); the popular notion that the word is an acronym from port out(ward), starboard home, said to be the preferred accommodation on ships traveling between England and India, is without foundation
1915–20; of obscure orig.; cf.posha dandy (recorded as British slang in 1890); the popular notion that the word is an acronym from port out(ward), starboard home, said to be the preferred accommodation on ships traveling between England and India, is without foundation
posh
2 [posh] –interjection
| (used as an exclamation of contempt or disgust.) |
Origin:
1920–25
1920–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To posh
| posh (pŏsh) adj. posh·er, posh·est Smart and fashionable. See Synonyms at fashionable. [Perhaps posh, halfpenny, money, dandy, from Romany påšh.] posh'ly adv., posh'ness n. Word History: "Oh yes, Mater, we had a posh time of it down there." So in Punch for September 25, 1918, do we find the first recorded instance posh, meaning "smart and fashionable." A popular theory holds that it is derived from the initials of "Port Out, Starboard Home," the cooler, and thus more expensive, side of ships traveling between England and India in the mid-19th century. The acronym POSH was supposedly stamped on the tickets of first-class passengers traveling on that side of ships owned by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. No known evidence supports this theory, however. Another word posh was 19th- and early 20th-century British slang for "money," specifically "a halfpenny, cash of small value." This word is borrowed from the Romany word påšh, "half," which was used in combinations such as påšhera, "halfpenny." Posh, also meaning "a dandy," is recorded in two dictionaries of slang, published in 1890 and 1902, although this particular posh may be still another word. This word or these words are, however, much more likely to be the source of posh than "Port Out, Starboard Home," although the latter source certainly has caught the public's etymological fancy. |
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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
posh
1918, of uncertain origin; no evidence for the common derivation from an acronym of port outward, starboard home, supposedly the shipboard accommodations of wealthy British traveling to India on the P & O Lines (to keep their cabins out of the sun); see objections outlined in G. Chowdharay-Best, "Mariner's Mirror," Jan. 1971. More likely from slang posh "a dandy" (1890), from thieves' slang meaning "money" (1830), originally "coin of small value, halfpenny," possibly from Romany posh "half."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Language Translation for : posh
Spanish:
de clase alta, pijo (peyorativo), gente bien,
German:
pikfein,
Japanese:
しゃれた
POSH
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The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
