Meanings
- ChinaeducationThe National Higher Education Entrance Examination held annually in China as a prerequisite for entrance into most forms of higher education.
1 more example
In recent years, education officials have made a number of proposals, including revising elementary and middle school textbooks to increase the proportion of guoxue, or the study of Chinese culture, and reducing the importance of English on some versions of the gaokao, or university entrance examination, in favor of a greater emphasis on the Chinese language.
2015 September 30, Amy Qin, “A Fervor to Glimpse ‘China’s Mona Lisa’”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
Origin
- Mandarin高考
- Englishgaokao
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 高考 (gāokǎo, literally “higher [education] [entrance] examination”).
More words from Mandarin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Cantonese 高考
- 高考 (gou¹ haau²)examination held annually in China
Chinese Mandarin 高考
- 高考 (gāokǎo)examination held annually in China
Japanese 高考
- 高考 (kōkō)examination held annually in China
Polish gaokao
- gaokaoexamination held annually in China
Vietnamese cao khảo
- cao khảoexamination held annually in China
Cite this entry
gaokao. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaokao
“gaokao.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaokao. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gaokao,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaokao.
Source: gaokao on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.