mugwump
UK /ˈmʌɡwʌmp/ · US /ˈmʌɡˌwʌmp/ noun, verb
Forms mugwumps mugwumping mugwumped
- noun (chiefly humorous) A (male) leader; an important (male) person.
- noun (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).
- noun (by extension) A person who purports to stay aloof from party politics.
- noun (Australia, US, by extension) One who switches from supporting one political party to another, especially for personal benefit.
- noun (Australia, US, by extension, colloquial, somewhat derogatory) A person who stays neutral or non-committal; a fence sitter; also, a person who maintains an aloof and often self-important demeanour.
- noun (Australia) A foolish person.
- verb (intransitive) To behave like a mugwump.
- verb (intransitive) To purport to stay aloof and independent, especially from party politics.
Synonyms
baron big cheese big enchilada big gun big kahuna big man big name big noise big shot bigwig big wheel boss grand poobah head honcho heavy hitter heavyweight high muckamuck high muckety-muck king of all one surveys king of the castle independent fencesitter
Antonyms
absolute zero also-ran chopped liver cipher crumb Joe Nobody little guy minnow nebbish nobody no one nothing
Etymology
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.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A bolter from the Republican party in the national election of 1884; an Independent. [Political Cant, U.S.]
Etymology [Cf. Algonquin mugquomp a chief.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mugwump”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details