yokozuna
yokozuna noun: the highest rank of sumo wrestler, above ozeki; grand champion.
Noun
yokozuna (plural yokozunas or yokozuna)
- The highest rank of sumo wrestler, above ozeki; grand champion.
- A yokozuna is the very highest rank in sumo – “just like Mameha's position in Gion,” as Nobu explained it to me. I had no reason to doubt him; but if Mameha ever took half as much time entering a party as these yokozuna took entering the ring, she'd certainly never be invited back.1997, Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha, Vintage, page 202
- A person holding the rank, either competing at the rank or retired after having achieved it.
- What mattered most was that, from the very top of the Nihon Sumo Kyōkai, Yokozuna Akebono had been shown respect.2006, Mark Panek, Gaijin Yokozuna: A Biography of Chad Rowan, page 265
Forms of yokozuna
| plural | yokozunas |
|---|---|
| plural | yokozuna |
Origin of yokozuna
From Japanese 横綱(よこづな) (yokozuna, “wide rope”), the symbol of their rank worn about the waist.
Words that rhyme with yokozuna
Questions about yokozuna
- What does yokozuna mean?
- Yokozuna means the highest rank of sumo wrestler, above ozeki; grand champion.
- What part of speech is yokozuna?
- Yokozuna is a noun.
- What is the plural of yokozuna?
- The plural of yokozuna is yokozunas.
Words near yokozuna in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: yokozuna (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “yokozuna.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/yokozuna. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.