kudos
kudos Lexical Profile
kudos Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Praise, honor, and acclaim received for an exceptional achievement or contribution.
"The director received widespread kudos from film critics for her bold documentary."
• interjection
Used as an exclamation of praise, congratulations, or admiration for a notable achievement.
"Kudos to the entire engineering team for completing the bridge restoration ahead of schedule!"
Word Nuance & Usage
Although ending in '-s', 'kudos' is historically an uncountable singular noun in Greek and takes a singular verb in formal usage (e.g., 'kudos is due'), though it is frequently treated as a plural noun in informal contexts; the back-formed singular 'kudo' is generally avoided in standard writing.
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 18th century as British university slang directly from Ancient Greek 'kydos', meaning 'magical glory', 'praise', or 'renown'.