big enchilada

/bɪg ˌɛntʃəˈlɑdə/

Big enchilada is a slang phrase that means "the man or woman in charge." At a high school, the principal is usually the big enchilada.

Use the term big enchilada when you need an extremely casual way to refer to your boss, or to someone who is otherwise the top dog or head honcho. Most word experts think that big enchilada, which was first used in the 1970's, was a spin-off of the earlier idiom big cheese, also a slang term for a boss or leader.

Definitions of big enchilada

1. noun

   an important influential person
   synonyms: big cheese, big deal, big fish, big gun, big shot, big wheel, head honcho

   types:

   knocker

   (Yiddish) a big shot who knows it and acts that way; a boastful immoderate person

   supremo

   the most important person in an organization

   type of:

   important person, influential person, personage

   one whose whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events