kudo
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A compliment or praise.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kyoodohSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkjudoʊ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
nonstandardsometimes proscribed
A compliment or praise.
A surname from Japanese.
verb
transitivenonstandardproscribed
To give a compliment or praise to.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (nonstandard, sometimes proscribed) A compliment or praise.
Used this way, kudo is a rare word with a mildly favourable edge. Most speakers understand it but seldom reach for it.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Rare
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Uncommon in everyday speech
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.