Bwana
//ˈbwɑːnə// noun, slang
noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Big boss, important person. slang
"It is Jim C.’s custom always to say “Up Simba” in a fake-deep bwana voice as he hefts the camera to his right shoulder […]"
Example
More examples"It is Jim C.’s custom always to say “Up Simba” in a fake-deep bwana voice as he hefts the camera to his right shoulder […]"
Etymology
Borrowed from Swahili bwana (“master”), from Arabic أَبُونَا (ʔabūnā, “our father”). Doublet of abbot.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.