Word of the Day · Archive
The Hawaiian word for October 19, 2026
Archive · October 19, 2026
KŪPONO
say it: koo-POH-noh
Upright, honest, proper, fitting — and worth, merit, excellence: Ka mea i ʻike ʻia he kūpono, as is seen fit.
What it means
Kūpono means upright, honest, decent, proper, appropriate, rightful, and reliable. It also reaches toward fit and fair: qualified, suitable, satisfactory, just. As a noun it carries worth, merit, and excellence.
One word holds a person who can be trusted and a thing that is right for its purpose. The Pukui-Elbert entry even includes the plain, physical sense of the word: upright, perpendicular.
Say it slowly, long vowel on the first syllable: koo-POH-noh, with the stress on the middle.
How to use it
Every phrase below is documented in the Pukui-Elbert dictionary entry for kūpono on Wehewehe Wikiwiki.
Ka mea i ʻike ʻia he kūpono
“As is seen fit; as is deemed proper.”
Ka hope kūpono i kāna hana ʻana
“The natural consequences of his acts.”
Nā mea e kūpono ai nā lunamakaʻāinana
“Qualifications of representatives.”
Why this word matters
Yesterday the word was ʻoiaʻiʻo, truth. Today, a Monday (Pōʻakahi) and the start of a new week, we take up the word for what truth looks like when it walks around: kūpono.
Not only what is right, but what fits, and who can be relied on.
Notice how wide the word runs. The same kūpono describes an honest person, a fair decision, and a qualified representative. In the dictionary’s own example, it names the qualifications of those chosen to speak for others. Being upright and being suited to the task are held in one word.
It also gives us a way to think about consequence. Ka hope kūpono i kāna hana ʻana, the natural consequences of one’s acts, reminds us that what follows from our actions has its own fitting shape.
As this week begins, ask what is kūpono in the small things: the promise you keep, the job you do well, the fair word you give. Excellence and honesty start there.
Sources
Kūpono — upright, perpendicular, honest, decent, proper, appropriate, satisfactory, rightful, reliable, just, fair, qualified, suitable, fit; worth, merit, excellence — with Ka mea i ʻike ʻia he kūpono, Ka hope kūpono i kāna hana ʻana, and Nā mea e kūpono ai nā lunamakaʻāinana, are from the Pukui-Elbert dictionary (1986) entry on Wehewehe Wikiwiki (wehe.hilo.hawaii.edu). The core meanings are cross-checked against the University of Hawaiʻi News “ʻŌlelo of the Week” entries for kūpono (2022 and 2023). Pōʻakahi, Monday, is standard Hawaiian usage.