panjandrum
noun

- a pompous self-important official or person of rank

- a person who has or claims to have a great deal of authority or influence

- a powerful personage or pretentious official

Collins Dictionary, Oxford Learners' Dictionary, Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

The etymology of “panjandrum” is one of the most entertaining word origins in the English language.

The word was coined in 1754 or 1755 by Samuel Foote (1720-1777), a British actor and dramatist, as part of a nonsense passage designed to test the memory of Irish actor Charles Macklin (1699-1797):

Charles Macklin had opened an entertainment called the British Inquisition in Covent Garden, featuring lectures and debates. During one of his lectures on memory, Macklin boasted that his memory was so highly trained he could remember any text after reading it just once.

Samuel Foote, known as a master mimic with a devilishly sharp wit, created a completely nonsense word as part of an absurd passage to challenge Macklin’s claim.

“And there were present the Picninnies, and the Jobillies, and the Garyulies, and the great Panjandrum himself, with the little round button at top”.

Though “panjandrum” looks like it might be a combination of Latin and Greek roots, it is actually a complete nonsense word. It’s described as a “pseudo-Latin word (based on pan-)” coined by Foote.

The word didn’t gain its modern meaning as “a pompous personage of power and pretension” until 1880 - over a century after its creation! What started as pure nonsense gradually evolved to describe exactly the kind of pompous, self-important officials that theatrical satire has always mocked.

The word has had an surprisingly rich cultural life beyond its linguistic use. It was the name of a World War II experimental project designed to breach Hitler’s concrete walls, and it was even the basis for a Broadway musical in the 1890s.  

The transformation from meaningless theatrical jest to precise social criticism represents one of language’s most remarkable evolutionary journeys - proving that sometimes the best words for describing human folly come from pure, inspired nonsense.

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SYNONYMS 

barons, big shots, bigwigs, dignitaries, eminences, grandees, heavy hitters, high-muck-a-mucks, hotshots, magnates, moguls, nabobs, PANJANDRUMS, pooh-bahs, stuffed shirts, VIPs, worthies

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SMUGGLE
 OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“The etymology of PANJAMDRUM is fascinating,… did you know it was an invented word over 300 years ago?”

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P L E A S E   S U P P O R T   O W A D