as in heavyweight
one of high position or importance within a group
a big kahuna at a Hollywood talent agency, he's got the fancy car to prove it
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of kahuna
The ISM Manufacturing Index kicks things off today with plenty of more data over the coming days, anchored by the big kahuna, Friday’s employment situation report for July.
—
Jj Kinahan, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022
In Cantore’s experience, nothing compares to covering the big kahuna of 2005: Katrina.
—Nick Heil, Outside Online, 25 June 2013
But the big kahuna is still to come, as the company finally confirmed that the Supra is officially getting a manual transmission.
—Joey Capparella, Car and Driver, 15 Apr. 2022
The big kahuna of their SoCal tour-within-a-tour this week is Wednesday night’s show at Crypto.com Arena, a venue that’s seven miles and about 43 years from the Masque, where the earliest incarnation of the group started out as a punk group.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 30 Mar. 2022
See all Example Sentences for kahuna 
Jj Kinahan, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022
In Cantore’s experience, nothing compares to covering the big kahuna of 2005: Katrina.
—Nick Heil, Outside Online, 25 June 2013
But the big kahuna is still to come, as the company finally confirmed that the Supra is officially getting a manual transmission.
—Joey Capparella, Car and Driver, 15 Apr. 2022
The big kahuna of their SoCal tour-within-a-tour this week is Wednesday night’s show at Crypto.com Arena, a venue that’s seven miles and about 43 years from the Masque, where the earliest incarnation of the group started out as a punk group.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 30 Mar. 2022
See all Example Sentences for kahuna
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kahuna
Noun
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The Heat duo of Adebayo and Ware entered Sunday with just one minute played together this season, with Spoelstra just recently starting to play the two bigs together in end-of-quarter defensive situations.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
20 Jan. 2025
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DiVincenzo had taken on the burden of crashing the glass to help out the Wolves bigs.—
Jon Krawczynski,
The Athletic,
18 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Not without consequence, of course, and not just from New York heavies—in his years of flouting the conventions of etiquette in the bush, around animals, whether while making images or just out wandering, Peter was not entirely unscathed.—
Chris Wallace,
Vogue,
17 Dec. 2024
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But at six-foot-two, with the big, square features and the theatrical presence of a human monolith, Chen looks as well as buzzes like the authority figures and heavies that are a star basso’s ticket to the really big time.—
airmail.news,
airmail.news,
7 Dec. 2024
Noun
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One day later, reality hit and the 155-pound king showed there are levels to the game, taking down the challenger and sinking in a D’Arce choke to force the first-round tapout in the UFC 311 main event Saturday at Intuit Dome.—
Brian Martin,
Orange County Register,
18 Jan. 2025
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Now the king is back, hanging out with current Cubs players at a North Side blues club.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Jan. 2025
Noun
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While Jon is bound to leadership by a sense of duty, Daenerys sees herself as a liberator, a queen steeped in moral righteousness who freed slaves across the sea for the greater good.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
14 July 2017
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THE TRENDSETTER Salt & Straw is the homecoming queen of ice cream in LA.—
Cole Kazdin,
Los Angeles Magazine,
14 July 2017
Noun
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There was plenty of entertainment with lion and dragon dances, food eating contests, a dumpling wrapping contest and a host of performances on a main stage.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 Jan. 2025
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Enjoy Golden Lion martial arts demos, a Kei Lun lion dance and a parade.—
Jackie Burrell,
The Mercury News,
22 Jan. 2025
Noun
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That could be a smart bet for Cohen, with Donald Trump’s election spurring business magnates and world leaders to flock to Palm Beach for its proximity to the new president’s Winter White House at Mar-a-Lago.—
Giacomo Tognini,
Forbes,
22 Jan. 2025
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Alongside billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, the tech magnates appeared in countless live shots of the transfer of power.—
Bloomberg,
Orange County Register,
21 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Kahuna.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kahuna. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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