Standard Lemma guide

mugwump

noun · verb · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmʌɡwʌmp/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈmʌɡˌwʌmp/
  • General-American: [ˈməɡˌwəmp]

1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: humorous

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

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, king of the hill, kingpin, macher, mayor, muckamuck, muckety muck, mugwump, numero uno, panjandrum, poobah, rooster, somebody, top banana, top boy, top cat, top dog, top gun, very important person, VIP, wheel

Antonyms: absolute zero, also-ran, chopped liver, cipher, crumb, Joe Nobody, little guy, minnow, nebbish, nobody, no one, nothing, nothingburger, nonentity, picayune, pip-squeak, pleb, peon, prole, puny, quidam, rinky-dink, shrimp, wankstain, zero, zilch

2

noun

Meaning 2

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).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, historical

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A person who purports to stay aloof from party politics.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

One who switches from supporting one political party to another, especially for personal benefit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia, US, broadly

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A person who stays neutral or non-committal; a fence sitter; also, a person who maintains an aloof and often self-important demeanour.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia, US, broadly, colloquial, derogatory

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A foolish person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Alternative letter-case form of mugwump.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To behave like a mugwump.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

verb

Meaning 9

To purport to stay aloof and independent, especially from party politics.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

a neutral or uncommitted person (especially in politics)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: independent, fencesitter

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: individualist

11

noun

Meaning 11

someone who bolted from the Republican Party during the U.S. presidential election of 1884

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: politician, politico, pol, political leader

History

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.