posh

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Associated with the upper classes.

   She talks with a posh accent.

2. 2
   adj

   Stylish; elegant; exclusive; luxurious; expensive.

   Near-synonym: plush

3. 3
   adj

   Snobbish, materialistic, prejudiced, under the illusion that one is better than everyone else.

   We have a right posh git moving in next door.

4. 4
   intj

   An exclamation expressing derision.

   The czar! Posh! I slap my fingers--I snap my fingers at him.

5. 5
   noun

   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.

6. 6
   name

   Peterborough United F.C., a football club from Peterborough, England.

   Peterbough United have been playing at Lincoln, in something of a local derby. EMR has put on a six-car Class 158 as an additional train, to take 'Posh' fans home (Posh is the team's nickname, by the way).

7. 7
   adj

   elegant and fashionable

8. 8
   noun

   A halfpenny or other coin of little value.

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…