gung-ho

[ guhng-hoh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

wholeheartedly enthusiastic and loyal; eager; zealous:
a gung-ho military outfit.

adverb

in a successful manner:
The business is going gung-ho.

gung ho

/ ɡʌŋ həʊ /

adjective

extremely enthusiastic and enterprising, sometimes to excess
extremely keen to participate in military combat

gung-ho

Extremely enthusiastic or zealous: “He was gung-ho about going on a vacation to the beach.”

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Word History and Origins

Origin of gung-ho¹

Introduced as a training slogan in 1942 by U.S. Marine officer Evans F. Carlson (1896–1947), from Chinese gōng hé, the abbreviated name of the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society, taken by a literal translation as “work together”

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Word History and Origins

Origin of gung-ho¹

C20: pidgin English, from Mandarin Chinese kung work + ho together

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, gung-ho . Extremely enthusiastic or dedicated, as in She was gung ho about her new job . This expression was introduced in 1942 as a training slogan for a U.S. Marine battalion, derived from what an American officer thought were Mandarin Chinese words for “work together.” It was actually an abbreviation for the name of Chinese industrial cooperatives.

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Example Sentences

All 130 employees share a similar vision and all seem very gung ho about their racy products.

From The Daily Beast

Even after the subpoenas started flying, he remained gung-ho on entitlement reform.

From The Daily Beast

Now it's true, he makes no campaign contributions, so he's obviously not a gung-ho big-P Political Republican.

From The Daily Beast

Ron Howard even cast him in a bit part in his 1986 movie Gung Ho.

From The Daily Beast

I was haunted by the clueless Paul Bremer clones I met in Kuwait who were so gung ho to inspire “democracy.”

From The Daily Beast

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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