noun · rare

mugwump

mug·wump

mugwump · mugwumps

A leader; an important personA (male) leader; an important (male) person.

UK/ˈmʌɡwʌmp/US/ˈmʌɡˌwʌmp/

» He is a mutton-headed old mugwump.

Він старе пришелепкувате велике цабе. — deniko · CC BY 2.0 FR

deniko · Tatoeba · CC0

Examples

1 sentences

He is a mutton-headed old mugwump.
Він старе пришелепкувате велике цабе. — deniko · CC BY 2.0 FR
deniko · Tatoeba · CC0 · C2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem

Meaning

6 senses

(US, historical)A member of the Republican Party who declined to support the party's nominee James G. Blaine (1830–1893) during the 1884 United States presidential election, believing him to be corrupt, and instead supported the Democratic Party's candidate Grover Cleveland (1837–1908).
someone who bolted from the Republican Party during the U.S. presidential election of 1884
(humorous)A (male) leader; an important (male) person.
(broadly)A person who purports to stay aloof from party politics.

More meanings 3

(Australia, US, broadly)One who switches from supporting one political party to another, especially for personal benefit.
(Australia)A foolish person.
(Australia, US, broadly, colloquial, derogatory)A person who stays neutral or non-committal; a fence sitter; also, a person who maintains an aloof and often self-important demeanour.

Origin

The noun is borrowed from Massachusett mugquomp, mummugquomp (“war leader”). Folk etymolog

The noun is borrowed from Massachusett mugquomp, mummugquomp (“war leader”). Folk etymology reinterpreted it as referring to a person who sat on the fence with their mug (“face”) on one side and wump (“rump”) on the other, which influenced political cartoons during the 1884 United States presidential election.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source