big enchilada
noun Slang.
someone regarded as the most important, influential, or dominant person in an organization: The police are hoping to catch the syndicate's big enchilada in the next raid.
QUIZZES
DISCOVER THE INFLUENCE OF PORTUGUESE ON ENGLISH VIA THIS QUIZ!
We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?
Question 1 of 11
Which of the following animal names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?
Sometimes top enchilada .
Origin of big enchilada
First recorded in 1970–75; on the pattern of such expressions as big cheese, big wheel, etc.
Words nearby big enchilada
Big Dipper, bigeminal, bigeminal pulse, bigeminal rhythm, bigeminy, big enchilada, big end, bigender, bigener, bigeneric, bigeye
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Idioms and Phrases with big enchilada
big enchilada
see under big cheese.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.