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Deriving from Greek, kudos entered English as slang popular at British universities in the 19th century. In its earliest use, the word referred to the prestige or renown that one gained by having accomplished something noteworthy. The sense meaning "praise given for achievement" came about in the 1920s. As this later sense became the predominant one, some English speakers, unaware of the word's Greek origin, began to treat the word as a plural count noun, inevitably coming up with the back-formation kudo to refer to a single instance of praise. For the same reason, when kudos is used as a subject you may see it with either a singular or plural verb.

Examples of kudos in a Sentence

Kudos to everyone who helped. The company has earned kudos for responding so quickly to customers' concerns.

Recent Examples on the Web Plus, the color really compliments her skin, so kudos to Rapinoe on the selection of the color. — Addison Aloian, Allure, 10 May 2022 However, these types of recognition can actually be demotivating if employees feel that the kudos are insincere or that recipients are unfairly chosen. — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2021 The Ukrainian Film Academy named the helmer ‘Discovery of the Year,’ along with other kudos. — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2022 The front-of-the-house crew stayed on top of the morning rush and kudos to the kitchen for getting orders out quickly. — Leslie Kelly, Forbes, 12 Apr. 2022 But many music biopics are fairly pro forma, so kudos to Lemercier for trying something … different. — Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2022 Lamontagne likens this phenomenon of fans wanting to get exclusive merchandise to the kudos that previously might have come from going to a gig and having the t-shirt to prove it. — Catherine Erdly, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2022 Now Zimmern, 60, offers his kudos to more than a dozen Birmingham restaurants via his newsletter and blog, Spilled Milk. — Mary Colurso | Mcolurso@al.com, al, 25 Mar. 2022 Kershner agrees that the player should get the kudos. — Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Mar. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'kudos.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.