Recent Examples on the WebThe three top banana blondes of the Y2K movie era reunited in in the Hamptons on July 26, and our Royal Tenenbaums/Charlie's Angels/Legally Blonde-loving hearts are so full right now.—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 1 Aug. 2024 So which restaurant did Yelp readers declare top banana?—Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 21 June 2022 Guillermo Rodriguez always fancied himself as the top banana.—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 9 July 2019 This is, alas, the Yahweh of the early Hebrews, a fickle, petulant, seemingly amoral deity whose childish obsession is with proving himself top banana in the pantheon of primitive gods.—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 12 July 2018 Companies, government agencies and institutes are spending millions of dollars on research and development to find a new top banana.—Lucy Craymer, WSJ, 18 Dec. 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'top banana.' 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
from a burlesque routine involving three comedians in which the one that gets the punch line also gets a banana
Share