mugwump
mug·wump/ˈmʌɡˌwʌmp/noun, verb
mugwump is spelled M-U-G-W-U-M-P: 7 letters and 2 syllables (mug·wump). It appears about once in every 32 million words in written English, the 171,907th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mugwump means “A (male) leader; an important (male) person” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mugwump is mugwumps.
How many letters and syllables are in mugwump?
| Letters | 7: M-U-G-W-U-M-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: mug·wump |
| In writing | about once in every 32 million words; the 171,907th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is mugwump?
Mugwump appears about once in every 32 million words in written English, the 171,907th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mugwump?
- UK /ˈmʌɡwʌmp/
- US /ˈmʌɡˌwʌmp/
- US [ˈməɡˌwəmp]
Mugwump has 2 syllables, split mug·wump in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mugwump.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of mugwump
- mugwumps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- mugwumping participle, present
- mugwumped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mugwump mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A (male) leader; an important (male) person.
- 2
USA 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).
- 3
A person who purports to stay aloof from party politics.
- 4
AustraliaUSOne who switches from supporting one political party to another, especially for personal benefit.
- 5
AustraliaUScolloquialderogatoryA person who stays neutral or non-committal; a fence sitter; also, a person who maintains an aloof and often self-important demeanour.
- 6
AustraliaA foolish person.
verb
- 1
USTo behave like a mugwump.
- 2
USTo purport to stay aloof and independent, especially from party politics.
noun
- 1
Alternative letter-case form of mugwump.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does mugwump come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).