kahuna

K5A1H4U1N1A1
UK/kəˈhuːnə/

noun

A priest or priestess of the traditional Hawaiian religion.

OriginHawaiian kahuna →
Less commonScrabble 13
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Meanings

nounkahuna (plural kahunas or kahuna)

plural kahunas

  1. HawaiiA priest or priestess of the traditional Hawaiian religion.

    They were kāhuna, practitioners of the old Hawaiian religion, apparently offering themselves as sacrifices to appease the gods so that the queen would be restored.

    2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press, page 230
  2. hobbiesA great surfer.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
priestess

Origin

  1. Hawaiiankahuna
  2. Hawaiiankahuna
  3. Englishkahuna

Borrowed from Hawaiian kahuna (“shaman, wizard”).

More words from Hawaiian

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with kahuna

UnaLagunalunatunakorunakunalacunapunaCunaOonadoonayokozunamezzalunamizunaDrunanoona
All rhymes →

Anagrams

Nuhaka
Cite this entry
APA

kahuna. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kahuna

MLA

“kahuna.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kahuna. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kahuna,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kahuna.

Source: kahuna on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.