big kahuna

[big kuh-hoo-nuh]

noun

Slang.

1. the most important or dominant person or thing: Their scholarship program is the industry’s big kahuna.

   He’s the big kahuna of a large travel agency.

   Their scholarship program is the industry’s big kahuna.

Word History and Origins

Origin of big kahuna¹

First recorded in 1955–60; big ¹ ( def. ), kahuna ( def. )

Example Sentences

Of course, L.A.’s the big kahuna now.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"Given the interest of the majority of states in pursuing this issue, we think it's only appropriate that the big kahuna, the federal government, take action as well."

Read more on Salon

In New York City in 1999, Jesse says he was working on “The Big Kahuna,” which Spacey starred in and produced.

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But the big kahuna of consumer deflation is electronics.

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Roy Lichtenstein’s “Drowning Girl” — lent by the Museum of Modern Art and picturing a blue-haired woman vanishing beneath silvery waves — is facing, embarrassing to say, a replica of Hokusai’s big kahuna made from blue and white Lego blocks.

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• bigwig 
• dignitary 
• heavyweight 
• mogul