"macher" meaning in English

See macher in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈmɑxəɹ/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-macher.wav Forms: machers [plural], makher [alternative]
Etymology: From Yiddish מאַכער (makher, “influential person”, literally “one who makes”) from מאַכן (makhn, “to make”). Cognate, naturally, to English maker and German Macher. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|yi|מאַכער|lit=one who makes|t=influential person}} Yiddish מאַכער (makher, “influential person”, literally “one who makes”), {{cog|en|maker}} English maker, {{cog|de|Macher}} German Macher Head templates: {{en-noun}} macher (plural machers)
  1. (US, informal) An important person, often in the negative sense of self-important; a bigwig. Tags: US, informal

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "yi",
        "3": "מאַכער",
        "lit": "one who makes",
        "t": "influential person"
      },
      "expansion": "Yiddish מאַכער (makher, “influential person”, literally “one who makes”)",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "maker"
      },
      "expansion": "English maker",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Macher"
      },
      "expansion": "German Macher",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Yiddish מאַכער (makher, “influential person”, literally “one who makes”) from מאַכן (makhn, “to make”). Cognate, naturally, to English maker and German Macher.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "machers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "makher",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "macher (plural machers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 4 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              176,
              182
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2005 October 20, August Kleinzahler, “A Valentine’s: Regarding the Impractibility of Our Love”, in London Review of Books, volume 27, number 20, page 6:",
          "text": "An ordinary man doesn’t jump the Snake River Canyon / with nothing underneath his ass / but a two-wheeled, fin-stabilised X-1 Skycycle / and a seven-figure guarantee from some macher in LA.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              25,
              31
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Woody Allen, “Calisthenics, Poison Ivy, Final Cut”, in Mere Anarchy:",
          "text": "Finally, Mr. Wall Street macher, there's our own Abe Silverfish, a man who has editing awards from prestige film festivals in Tanganyika and Bali.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              139,
              146
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2022 February 10, Mike Hale, “‘Inventing Anna’ Review: The SoHo Scammer, Explained at Length”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "The meaty and more familiar parts of Anna’s story — passing as a German heiress, ripping off tony hotels, brazenly exploiting narcissistic machers and star-struck working women — are told in flashback as Vivian reports her article.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An important person, often in the negative sense of self-important; a bigwig."
      ],
      "id": "en-macher-en-noun-A75LWAzj",
      "links": [
        [
          "important",
          "important"
        ],
        [
          "person",
          "person"
        ],
        [
          "self-important",
          "self-important"
        ],
        [
          "bigwig",
          "bigwig"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, informal) An important person, often in the negative sense of self-important; a bigwig."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "baron"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big cheese"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big enchilada"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big gun"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big kahuna"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big man"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big name"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big noise"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big shot"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "bigwig"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big wheel"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "boss"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "grand poobah"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "head honcho"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "heavy hitter"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "heavyweight"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "high muckamuck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "high muckety-muck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "king of all one surveys"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "king of the castle"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "king of the hill"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "kingpin"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "tags": [
            "US"
          ],
          "word": "macher"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "mayor"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "muckamuck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "muckety muck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "usually"
          ],
          "word": "mugwump"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "numero uno"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "poobah"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "rooster"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "somebody"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "top banana"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "top cat"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "top dog"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "top gun"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "very important person"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "VIP"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "wheel"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɑxəɹ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-macher.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-macher.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-macher.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-macher.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-macher.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "macher"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "yi",
        "3": "מאַכער",
        "lit": "one who makes",
        "t": "influential person"
      },
      "expansion": "Yiddish מאַכער (makher, “influential person”, literally “one who makes”)",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "maker"
      },
      "expansion": "English maker",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Macher"
      },
      "expansion": "German Macher",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Yiddish מאַכער (makher, “influential person”, literally “one who makes”) from מאַכן (makhn, “to make”). Cognate, naturally, to English maker and German Macher.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "machers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "makher",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "macher (plural machers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
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        "English terms borrowed from Yiddish",
        "English terms derived from Yiddish",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 4 entries",
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      "examples": [
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              176,
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            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2005 October 20, August Kleinzahler, “A Valentine’s: Regarding the Impractibility of Our Love”, in London Review of Books, volume 27, number 20, page 6:",
          "text": "An ordinary man doesn’t jump the Snake River Canyon / with nothing underneath his ass / but a two-wheeled, fin-stabilised X-1 Skycycle / and a seven-figure guarantee from some macher in LA.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              25,
              31
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Woody Allen, “Calisthenics, Poison Ivy, Final Cut”, in Mere Anarchy:",
          "text": "Finally, Mr. Wall Street macher, there's our own Abe Silverfish, a man who has editing awards from prestige film festivals in Tanganyika and Bali.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              139,
              146
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2022 February 10, Mike Hale, “‘Inventing Anna’ Review: The SoHo Scammer, Explained at Length”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "The meaty and more familiar parts of Anna’s story — passing as a German heiress, ripping off tony hotels, brazenly exploiting narcissistic machers and star-struck working women — are told in flashback as Vivian reports her article.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An important person, often in the negative sense of self-important; a bigwig."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "important",
          "important"
        ],
        [
          "person",
          "person"
        ],
        [
          "self-important",
          "self-important"
        ],
        [
          "bigwig",
          "bigwig"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, informal) An important person, often in the negative sense of self-important; a bigwig."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "baron"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big cheese"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big enchilada"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big gun"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big kahuna"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big man"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big name"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big noise"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big shot"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "bigwig"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "big wheel"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "boss"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "grand poobah"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "head honcho"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "heavy hitter"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "heavyweight"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "high muckamuck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "high muckety-muck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "king of all one surveys"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "king of the castle"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "king of the hill"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "kingpin"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "tags": [
            "US"
          ],
          "word": "macher"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "mayor"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "muckamuck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "muckety muck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "usually"
          ],
          "word": "mugwump"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "numero uno"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "poobah"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "rooster"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "somebody"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "top banana"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "top cat"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "top dog"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "top gun"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "very important person"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "VIP"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:important person",
          "word": "wheel"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɑxəɹ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-macher.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-macher.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-macher.wav.mp3",
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    }
  ],
  "word": "macher"
}

Download raw JSONL data for macher meaning in English (5.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-12-02 using wiktextract (e2469cc and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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