aloha
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of aloha
Borrowed into English from Hawaiian around 1890–95
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.
Mainlanders have long shopped for vacation staples at the chain’s tropical warehouses, where the aloha shirts and macadamia nuts had them dreaming of what treasures lay abroad.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026
He certainly wasn’t feeling the aloha spirit watching an offense that stumbled or special teams that looked wholly unprepared while the Bruins fell behind by 10 points in the first half.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 31, 2024
People in Hawaii display the shaka to say hi and bye as well as thanks and aloha.
From Seattle Times • May 3, 2024
Big Island state Rep. Jeanné Kapela, one of the House bill’s co-sponsors, said residents are “so lucky to have a visual signal for sharing aloha with each other.”
From Seattle Times • Mar. 13, 2024
“G’day, Clara, aloha kakahiaka,” he says as I take my seat.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
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.
