posh
adjectiveinterjectionnounverbnounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//pɒʃ//
- United Kingdom//pəʊʃ//
- United States//pɑʃ//
Associated with the upper classes.
adjective
- 1
Associated with the upper classes.
She talks with a posh accent.
In antenatal clinic, an extremely posh patient attends for a routine appointment. All is well with her extremely posh fetus. Her extremely posh eight-year-old asks her a question about the economy (!), and before she answers, she asks her extremely posh five-year-old, ‘Do you know what the economy is, darling?’ ’Yes, Mummy. It’s the part of the plane that’s terrible.’
- 2
Stylish; elegant; exclusive; luxurious; expensive.
Near-synonym: plush
After the performance, they went out to a very posh restaurant.
“Miss Shaw’s got a new frock,” said Harriet. ”So she has! How posh of her! […]”
Jan Petter Vala is serving part of a 10-year murder sentence on a posh island in southern Norway.
- 3
Snobbish, materialistic, prejudiced, under the illusion that one is better than everyone else.
We have a right posh git moving in next door.
Etymology
Unknown. Most likely derived from Romani posh (“half”), either because posh-kooroona (“half a crown”) (originally a substantial sum of money) was used metaphorically for anything pricey or upper-class, or because posh-houri (“half-penny”) came to refer to money generally. A period slang dictionary defines "posh" as a term used by thieves for "money : generic, but specifically, a halfpenny or other small coin". An example is given from James Payn's The Eavesdropper (1888): "They used such funny terms: 'brads,' and 'dibbs,' and 'mopusses,' and 'posh' ... at last it was borne in upon me that they were talking about money." Evidence exists for a slang sense from the 1890s meaning dandy, which is quite possibly related. A popular folk etymology holds that the term is an acronym for "port out, starboard home", describing the cooler, north-facing cabins taken by the most aristocratic or rich passengers travelling from Britain to India and back. However, there is no evidence for this claim. It could also possibly be a clipping of polished. See also the articles mentioned in the References section below for additional discussion.
interjection
- 1
An exclamation expressing derision.
The czar! Posh! I slap my fingers--I snap my fingers at him.
noun
- 1
obsoleteA halfpenny or other coin of little value.
- 2
obsoleteMoney.
verb
- 1
To make posh or posher (more posh).
noun
- 1
A sudden and heavy fall or gush of rain or water.
Did yer see what a posh the water came down the bruck ater the thaw, and no wonder the snow was a fut deep.
There has been quite a posh of rain.
I could hear the posh of water issuing from the mouth of a lion fountain that was set in a nearby niche. He was on his knees, kissing my feet and legs until I was in a state of churning lust.
- 2
Fragments produced by an impact.
- 3
Slush.
Etymology
Compare pash (“smash, bash; of rain: fall heavily”).
Forms
- plural
- poshes
- comparative
- posher, more posh
- superlative
- poshest, most posh
- past tense
- poshed
- past participle
- poshed
- present participle
- poshing
- third person singular
- poshes
posh · Associated with the upper classes.
Posh · Peterborough United F.C., a football club from Peterborough,…posing · The act by which something is posed.position · A place or location.