kahuna

noun

ka·​hu·​na kə-ˈhü-nə How to pronounce kahuna (audio)
1
: a preeminent person or thing : big gun
the industry's big kahuna, with … 57 percent of the marketA. E. Serwer
2
: a Hawaiian shaman

Examples of kahuna in a Sentence

a big kahuna at a Hollywood talent agency, he's got the fancy car to prove it
Recent Examples on the Web The Rebate Project, though, is the big kahuna. Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2021 The ISM Manufacturing Index kicks things off today with plenty of more data over the coming days, anchored by the big kahuna, Friday’s employment situation report for July. Jj Kinahan, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022 In Cantore’s experience, nothing compares to covering the big kahuna of 2005: Katrina. Nick Heil, Outside Online, 25 June 2013 But the big kahuna is still to come, as the company finally confirmed that the Supra is officially getting a manual transmission. Joey Capparella, Car and Driver, 15 Apr. 2022 The big kahuna of their SoCal tour-within-a-tour this week is Wednesday night’s show at Crypto.com Arena, a venue that’s seven miles and about 43 years from the Masque, where the earliest incarnation of the group started out as a punk group. Chris Willman, Variety, 30 Mar. 2022 And the big kahuna of them all, the Oscars, are just around the corner. Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 22 Dec. 2021 While there are other area codes that service Houston, 713 will always be the big kahuna around these parts. Sonia Ramirez, Chron, 12 July 2021 But the universal charitable deduction is probably the big kahuna among the tax policy issues. Tax Notes Staff, Forbes, 27 Apr. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'kahuna.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Hawaiian

First Known Use

1875, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of kahuna was in 1875

Dictionary Entries Near kahuna

Cite this Entry

“Kahuna.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kahuna. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

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