Word of the Day · Archive
The Hawaiian word for May 18, 2026
Archive · May 18, 2026
LANAKILA
say it: lah-nah-KEE-lah
Victorious · Triumphant · To prevail · To conquer · To be too strong for an opposing party
What it means
The Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary gives lanakila two related senses: (1) to be too strong for another party; (2) to be victorious in a contest — to conquer, to prevail over an opposing party.
So lanakila is the word that gets reached for when a team wins, when a candidate prevails, when an underdog overcomes a favorite, when someone outlasts a long struggle. It’s the word for the moment after the final whistle, the moment after the last vote is counted, the moment something has been earned.
The word also lives across the islands as a place name — neighborhoods, schools, and organizations from Honolulu to Hilo carry Lanakila as a reminder that triumph is something worth naming a community after.
How to use it
These compound phrases are all attested in the Pukui-Elbert dictionary and the Māmaka Kaiao modern-Hawaiian vocabulary:
Why this word matters
This past weekend, the islands handed out their last spring high school state championships. The biggest story belonged to Moanalua, who took home boys volleyball D-I, girls flag football D-I, and the boys track & field team title — all in 48 hours. The boys volleyball crown was the school’s first ever, and the first D-I boys volleyball title for any OIA public school since 1979. Pure lanakila.
Tomorrow night, the UH Mānoa Rainbow Warriors open the Big West Baseball Tournament against Cal State Fullerton, single-elimination, in Irvine. Win and the Bows stay in the māhele lanakila. Lose and the season is over.
What makes lanakila the right word — and not just “win” — is that it carries the weight of what was overcome. The Pukui-Elbert definition leads with “to be too strong for another party.” There’s a struggle baked into the meaning. You don’t lanakila the easy ones. You lanakila the ones that took everything you had.
Lanakila isn’t a result. It’s a story.
Yesterday’s word, piko, was about where you come from. Today’s word, lanakila, is about what you do with it. Our roots connect us; what we make of that connection is up to us.
Sources
Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Samuel H. Elbert. Hawaiian Dictionary, revised and enlarged edition (University of Hawaiʻi Press). Compound phrases including māhele lanakila, hele lanakila, and hoʻokele waiwai kū lanakila are documented in Pukui-Elbert and the Māmaka Kaiao modern-Hawaiian vocabulary, both accessible via wehewehe.org. Weekend HHSAA championship results from HHSAA and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. UH baseball schedule from hawaiiathletics.com.