Word of the Day · Archive
The Hawaiian word for October 5, 2026
Archive · October 5, 2026
AKAMAI
say it: ah-kah-MAI
Smart, clever, expert — and the skill and wit that go with it.
What it means
Akamai means smart, clever, expert. Pukui and Elbert define it as “smart, clever, expert; smartness, skill, wit,” and they mark it as a noun, a verb, and a stative verb all at once — so akamai can be the quality itself, the state of having it, or someone who has it.
The older dictionaries lean toward wisdom. Andrews (1865) gives “wise; skillful; ingenious; expert; sagacious; learned,” and as a noun, “wisdom; skill; ingenuity.” Parker (1922) repeats those senses and adds that as a verb, akamai is “mostly used in the causative” — that is, with hoʻo-, to make someone wise or to become wise.
Put together, akamai covers a wide range: the quick wit of someone who always has the right answer, the practiced skill of an expert, and the deeper wisdom of someone who understands.
How to use it
Every phrase below is documented in the dictionary record on Wehewehe Wikiwiki.
Nā ʻōlelo akamai a Kolomona
“The proverbs of Solomon” (Pukui-Elbert) — literally, the wise sayings of Solomon. Put akamai after a noun and it describes it: ʻōlelo akamai, wise words.
Makemake au e akamai ʻoukou a pau
“I wish that you may all become wise” (Andrews, 1865; Parker, 1922). Here akamai is the verb: to be, or become, wise.
Hoʻoakamai
“To be or become wise; to make wise; skillful” — and also “to think one’s self wise” (Andrews, 1865). The causative hoʻo- turns being smart into making smart.
Akamai ma ka naʻau
“Wise” in the naʻau, the gut and seat of feeling (Andrews, 1865, citing the Hawaiian Bible, Puk. 28:3). Wisdom that lives deeper than the head.
Why this word matters
If you grew up in the islands, you probably heard akamai long before you studied any Hawaiian. It is one of the Hawaiian words that moved into everyday local talk — “that kid is akamai,” “be akamai” — and it carries the same sense there it does in the dictionary: smart, sharp, knows what’s up.
Akamai: smart enough to know, wise enough to share.
But the older entries remind us that akamai is more than street smarts. Andrews and Parker reach for wise, sagacious, learned. And the phrase akamai ma ka naʻau puts that wisdom in the naʻau — the place where Hawaiians locate feeling and deep knowing. To be truly akamai is to know with your gut as well as your head.
Notice, too, that Parker says the verb is mostly used in the causative, hoʻoakamai: to make wise. Wisdom, in that grammar, is something that gets passed on. Being akamai is good; helping someone else become akamai is better.
Today is Pōʻakahi, Monday — the first day of the work and school week. A good day to learn one new thing, and to teach one too. Makemake au e akamai kākou a pau: may we all become wise.
Sources
Akamai — “smart, clever, expert; smartness, skill, wit,” with the example nā ʻōlelo akamai a Kolomona, “the proverbs of Solomon” — is from the Hawaiian Dictionary (Pukui & Elbert, 1986). The senses “wise; skillful; ingenious; expert; sagacious; learned,” the noun “wisdom; skill; ingenuity,” the example makemake au e akamai ʻoukou a pau, the causative hoʻoakamai, and akamai ma ka naʻau (Puk. 28:3) are from Andrews (1865) and Parker (1922); Parker gives the pronunciation ă-ka-mai′. The closing line follows the University of Hawaiʻi News “ʻŌlelo of the Week” for akamai (April 7, 2026), “Makemake au e akamai kākou a pau.” Pōʻakahi, Monday, is Pukui-Elbert (1986). All dictionary entries consulted via Wehewehe Wikiwiki (wehe.hilo.hawaii.edu) and wehewehe.org.