skookum
Americanadjective
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large; powerful; impressive.
-
excellent; first-rate.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of skookum
1825–35, < Chinook Jargon: strong, powerful < Lower Chehalis (Salishan language of the Washington coast) skwəkwə́m ghost, spirit, monster (hence, apparently “fearsome” > “powerful” in Chinook Jargon)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Northwest look as handsome and healthy as skookum apples.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Thank you," he laughed, "And that is a real compliment, for by the way you can handle a rifle, and cover ground on snowshoes, I know you are skookum tillicum."
From Snowdrift A Story of the Land of the Strong Cold by James B. (James Beardsley) Hendryx
Then they have a skookum big fight, and Pisk-ku go 'way with John Borg.
From A Daughter of the Snows by Jack London
You're heap skookum, all right, but I can put you on your back!
From Snowdrift A Story of the Land of the Strong Cold by James B. (James Beardsley) Hendryx
"What a skookum son-in-law to take up the business when I let go!" he murmured happily.
From Cappy Ricks Or, the Subjugation of Matt Peasley by Peter B. (Peter Bernard) Kyne
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.
