Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An uproar; a hubbub.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun the confused noise of many voices.
  • noun a confused disturbance far greater than its cause merits.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A stir; a fuss or uproar.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun loud confused noise from many sources
  • noun a confused disturbance far greater than its cause merits

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, of imitative origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French brouhaha, but disputed as to where from before that. Possibly from Hebrew בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא (barúkh habá, "welcome", literally "blessed is he who comes").

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Examples

  • With the show having figured that out the title brouhaha notwithstanding, Cox has never been more engaging, funny and assured in her performance.

    Emmys: TVGuide.com's Picks for Lead Actress in a Comedy 2011

  • With the show having figured that out the title brouhaha notwithstanding, Cox has never been more engaging, funny and assured in her performance.

    Emmys: TVGuide.com's Picks for Lead Actress in a Comedy 2011

  • You don't see what the brouhaha is about an elected official possibly trading votes for money?

    Slow take David 2006

  • The stadium brouhaha is a large sucking hole removing all of the air from the room.

    What fools these mortals be (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009

  • Camus would be appalled, I think, to know that so much brouhaha is being made about where his bones lay.

    News sinkhole 2009

  • The Reid brouhaha is ridiculous, I will agree with that.

    Matthew Yglesias » Identity Politics for White People 2010

  • Needless to say all this brouhaha is making my life interesting.

    Rick Mercer Explains what Happened The Nag 2008

  • But if this rejection of FNC turns out to be a temporary blip, a short-term brouhaha, and Democratic public figures again embrace it as an equal to other news outlets, then it will not have made a difference except as a memory that our party leaders once came oh so close to "getting it" only to fail.

    Obama Pulls Out Of Fox/CBC Debate 2009

  • Barring any sudden revelations involving Riccardo Muti, a beautiful disaffected ex-KGB agent, and a briefcase full of uranium (TOTALLY MADE-UP STORY, although can't you just see Muti in a plot like that?), the Joyce Hatto brouhaha is certainly shaping up to be the classical music scandal of the year.

    Imitation of life Matthew Guerrieri 2007

  • Barring any sudden revelations involving Riccardo Muti, a beautiful disaffected ex-KGB agent, and a briefcase full of uranium (TOTALLY MADE-UP STORY, although can't you just see Muti in a plot like that?), the Joyce Hatto brouhaha is certainly shaping up to be the classical music scandal of the year.

    Archive 2007-02-01 Matthew Guerrieri 2007

Comments

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  • This word is pretty popular.

    August 15, 2007

  • What a lovely word.

    August 15, 2007

  • It's difficult to say this word without laughing.

    October 1, 2007

  • Brouheehee?

    October 1, 2007

  • Ha! I used to frequent a cafe called Brew-HaHa. Made me laugh every time I walked in there.

    October 1, 2007

  • "Brouhaha? Ha ha ha!" --Firesign Theatre

    October 12, 2007

  • Firesign Theatre! Love those guys. Who's up for a list? *hint, hint*

    October 12, 2007

  • FINE. I'll do it. Damn you! *shaking fist*

    (You know, at first I typed, "shaking fits," which is kind of funny.)

    October 13, 2007

  • *shaking fits*

    I have to stop drinking so much coffee.

    October 13, 2007

  • *faking shits*

    I have to--

    nevermind

    October 13, 2007

  • Alternative spelling brouha,ha.

    March 23, 2008

  • Oh ha, ha, ha!

    March 24, 2008

  • Next time you find yourself in the middle of a brouhaha, you should continually yell the word "brouhaha" in order to further the brouhaha.

    May 4, 2009

  • I think wordie is a loud confused noise from many sources.

    May 27, 2009

  • Exactly!

    May 27, 2009