muckamuck
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person in a position of power or authority, or of high status.
Colloquial; Countable; Derogatory
Example Sentences
- "I think it was the Fourth of July when they took the chair from under my ass again. Not a word of warning. One of the big muck-a-mucks from the other side of the water had decided to make economies; […]"
- "Allen had the wit—God, I love that man when he's at his best—to invite all the new Kennedy muckamucks to an evening with a number of us at the Alibi Club."
- "“Good Heavens! The pictures are moving!” “That's a movie. It's where tweens go to get fingered.” “It's beautiful.” “Yeah. Wish we could go to a movie right now.” “Well, why don't we go?” “Really?” “I assume it's better than listening to this muckamuck.”"
- "She apparently has her own way in everything now, the old chief being quite satisfied to get his rations of muckamuck and tobacco without troubling himself as to how it is provided."
- "But old Halascum once, under the mellowing influence of having sold some furs, and seeing the great quantities of muckamuck, or goodly things to eat, which his prize had furnished, was led to tell the mystery […]"
Etymology
Borrowed from Chinook Jargon muckamuck (“food”). In the sense of person of authority, it is short for high muckamuck, from Chinook Jargon hayo muckamuck (“plenty to eat, plenty of food; to eat”). See muckety muck. The ultimate source of the word is unclear; it is possible that the term originated within Chinook Jargon itself, rather than being borrowed from another language.
Word Breakdown
- Root: muckamuck
Usage
- Colloquial
- Countable
- Derogatory
- American usage
- Dated
- Uncountable