magilla

Noun

magilla (plural magillas)

1. Something large or elaborate.
   • No, I didn't wear them. I got dressed up. Pantyhose, makeup, the whole magilla.2001, Fern Michaels, Charming Lily
   • Before a Kohen duchans he's gotta have his hands washed by one of the Levites, it's a whole magilla, what do I know?2002, Howard Riell, The Merciful Rebuke Satan, page 204
2. A big fuss or messy situation.
   • Now after this magilla, please be ashamed of yourself and sit down & write a nice long letter20th century, New York Supreme Court Case on Appeal, page 1051
   • Because I got into one of my magillas over what in hell to write you, Paul who thought I was crazy said that maybe he would apply for it instead but Gordon thought he was too successful.1985, Jane Auer Bowles, Millicent Dillon, Out in the World: Selected Letters of Jane Bowles, 1935-1970
3. An epitome; an acme; an exemplar.
   • “It's not just one more thing, this is the big magilla,” Keena said.2012 April 27, Linda Sickler, “Obama names Juliette Gordon Low recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom”, in Savannah Morning News
   • Beyond Baroque, she says, “was the big magilla” to which they all aspired.2018 November 13, Bliss Bowen, “This weekend’s Southern California Poetry Festival caps Beyond Baroque’s 50th anniversary celebration and exalts poetry in its many forms”, in The Argonaut
4. Someone big and brutish; a gorilla.
   • Big, stupid magillas with guns.2003, Bob Truluck, Saw Red: A Mystery, page 107
   • Those of us in the talk radio dodge can't help but make note of Rush Limbaugh, the thousand-pound magilla in our particular jungle.2011 May 25, Michael Conniff, “Con Games: Rush Limbaugh, Elitist”, in Huffington Post