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Meetings & Communicationnoun · /ˈkuːdɒs/

kudos

In simple English

Kudos originates from Greek and means praise or glory. In modern tech environments, it is frequently used to recognize excellent work, successful project completions, or outstanding problem-solving. You might hear it in standup meetings, retrospectives, or team celebrations. For example, a manager might say 'Kudos to Sarah for fixing the critical database issue' or 'I want to give kudos to the DevOps team for their seamless deployment.' It is informal enough for casual team interactions but professional enough for formal communications. Kudos can be given publicly in meetings or privately in direct messages, making it very versatile for workplace recognition.

Understanding how to give and receive praise for technical work in professional English

At a glanceCEFR B2
Commonness4/5
Versatility4/5
FormalityCasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ WrittenSpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ DiplomaticDirectDiplomaticDirect
RegionUS and UK
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Say it like this

✓Kudos to you for shipping on time
✓Big kudos to the testing team
✓Serious kudos for that elegant solution

Real examples

in a standup

"Kudos to Marcus for debugging that race condition overnight."

in a code review

"Kudos on the clean architecture here, really thoughtful design choices."

in a team meeting

"I want to give kudos to the entire frontend team for launching the redesign ahead of schedule."

Don't say this

Handle with care. Kudos is used to give praise, not to critique or point out problems. It cannot be used as a verb (avoid saying 'we kudosed the code').

✕We need to kudos the database before production.
✓We need to optimize the database before production.— Kudos is only for giving praise, not for describing technical work or tasks.
✕Thanks for the kudos on my pull request.
✓Thanks for the feedback on my pull request.— Feedback includes both praise and constructive criticism; kudos is only praise.
✕He kudosed the testing framework.
✓He improved the testing framework; kudos to him.— Kudos is a noun, not a verb. You give kudos, you do not kudos something.

Other forms

noun

kudos

"Kudos goes to the entire QA team for their thorough testing."

noun phrase

give kudos to

"I want to give kudos to Priya for her exceptional documentation."

Often used with

give kudos toMost common structure; used to acknowledge someone's achievement
kudos forFollowed by a noun or gerund to specify what the praise is for
deserve kudosUsed when someone has earned recognition
big kudosEmphasizes the significance of the praise

Similar words

propsMore casual and slang; commonly used in tech culture
creditMore formal; used in official contexts and documentation
recognitionMore formal and broader; can include awards or formal acknowledgment
shout-outMore informal; emphasizes public recognition

Opposites

criticismblame

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Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Pick the most natural phrasing

1. Your teammate solved a tricky API integration. How do you express praise?

Complete the sentence

2. In the retro, the lead said, 'Major _______ to everyone who helped with the migration.'

Spot the mistake

3. Which sentence uses kudos incorrectly?

Rewrite naturally

4. Rewrite this in natural tech English using kudos: 'I want to recognize and praise the backend team because they completed the API refactor early.'

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "kudos" in a standup this week?

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