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Synonyms

big kahuna

American

[big kuh-hoo-nuh] / ˈbɪg kəˈhu nə /

noun

Slang.

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.

Etymology

Origin of big kahuna

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.