kahuna

noun

ka·​hu·​na kə-ˈhü-nə 

1

: a preeminent person or thing : big gun

the industry's big kahuna, with … 57 percent of the market

—A. E. Serwer

2

: a Hawaiian shaman

Synonyms

• big
• big boy
• big cheese
• big gun
• big leaguer
• big shot
• big wheel
• big-timer
• bigfoot
• biggie
• bigwig
• fat cat
• heavy
• heavy hitter
• heavyweight
• high-muck-a-muck
• high-muckety-muck
• honcho
• kingfish
• kingpin
• major leaguer
• muckety-muck
• muck-a-muck
• mucky-muck
• nabob
• nawab
• nibs
• nob [chiefly British]
• pooh-bah
• poo-bah
• wheel

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

This has to be a big kahuna, among records Swift could break that go back to the very beginning of the album chart. —Chris Willman, Variety, 19 June 2024

The big kahuna, Photoshop itself, costs a minimum of $9.99 per month, but that subscription also includes Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and 20GB of cloud storage. —PCMAG, 10 May 2024

Today may not be your actual filing deadline: Yes, April 15 is the big kahuna of tax-filing deadlines for most people. —Jeanne Sahadi, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024

The Rebate Project, though, is the big kahuna. —Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2021

Word History

Etymology

Hawaiian

First Known Use

1875, in the meaning defined at sense 2