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Another very commonly used Hawaiian word is nani. Nani means beautiful. It is often used in names as in Puanani for “beautiful flower.” Nani no ʻoe – you are beautiful – is a nice expression we hope you hear everyday.

Pāʻia means noisy. It is best known as a small town in East Maui, and because it is so often misspelled, it is often mispronounced.

Our Hawaiian Word for today is a beautiful Oʻahu place name, Kaʻaʻawa. It is often used as an example of a Hawaiian word with so many vowels in a row. But if you spell and pronounce it correctly, you will note that every vowel is separated by a consonant sound, the glottal stop or ʻokina. And it means the wrasse fish.

We often hear kakahiaka as part of aloha kakahiaka, a greeting early in the day. And most know it means "morning." The popular greeting came in to use only after the arrival of the poʻe haole, as a translation for “good morning.”

HPR reviews the results of the 2026 primary election; national Solar Observatory scientists capture the highest-resolution images of the surface of the sun ever taken.

ʻOno is another of those very frequently used Hawaiian words understood by most people, even those who do not speak the language. ʻOno means delicious. Be sure to start it with that glottal stop, because ono without the glottal stop, is the popular and tasty fish known in English as the wahoo.

Kahaluʻu, the proper name for a beautiful Windward Oʻahu location. It means diving place. Kaha is “place” and luʻu is “diving.” Be sure to sound the glottal stop, or ʻokina.

Our Hawaiian word for today is another borrowed word, kepakemapa. And yes, it’s the Hawaiian word for “September.” Like other names of the months, it was borrowed from English.

Nahu means to bite. It can be the bite of anything—from an insect that bites, to the bite of a dog, or even the bite you take out of a piece of cake.

Today's Hawaiian Word of the Day is another beautiful place name: Kōkeʻe. It means "to bend" or "to wind." We all know it as the name of the beautiful state park and area on Kauaʻi.