gung ho
UK/ˌɡʌŋˈhəʊ//ˌɡʌŋˈhoʊ/
gung ho adjective: overly enthusiastic or energetic.
Adjective
gung ho (comparative more gung ho, superlative most gung ho)
- Overly enthusiastic or energetic.
- No matter how gung ho you are when you start, you will tire as you become mired in details.
- Cocky; undisciplined; contemptuous of rules.
Forms of gung ho
| comparative | more gung ho |
|---|---|
| superlative | most gung ho |
| alternative form | gungho |
| alternative form | gung-ho |
Origin of gung ho
From a catachresis of Mandarin 工合 (gōnghé), an acronym for 工業合作社 /工业合作社 (gōngyè hézuòshè, “[Chinese] Industrial Cooperative Society”), as 工 (gōng, “work”) + 合 (“together”), literally “to work together”. The interpretation "work together" was created by U.S. Marine Evans Carlson, who was posted in China during the 1930s. It became the motto and nickname of the enthusiastic battalion Carlson commanded, leading to other marines adopting the term to mean "overly enthusiastic". It was popularized in the United States by the war film Gung Ho! (1943), which profiled the battalion's leadership of the Raid on Makin Island during World War II.
Words that rhyme with gung ho
Questions about gung ho
- What does gung ho mean?
- Gung ho means overly enthusiastic or energetic.
- What part of speech is gung ho?
- Gung ho is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce gung ho?
- Gung ho is pronounced /ˌɡʌŋˈhəʊ/ (UK).
Words near gung ho in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gung ho (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-gung ho.oga.
Cite this entry: “gung ho.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gung_ho. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.