Meanings
comparative more gung ho · superlative most gung ho · alternative gungho · alternative gung-ho
- derogatoryinformaloftenOverly enthusiastic or energetic.
No matter how gung ho you are when you start, you will tire as you become mired in details.
- derogatoryinformalgovernmentCocky; undisciplined; contemptuous of rules.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivevery enthusiastic and dedicated
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Mandarin工合
- Englishgung 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.
More words from Mandarin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish overivrig, begejstret
- overivrigoverly enthusiastic or energetic
- begejstretoverly enthusiastic or energetic
Dutch overijverig
- overijverigoverly enthusiastic or energetic
German übereifrig
- übereifrigoverly enthusiastic or energetic
Norwegian Bokmål overivrig
- overivrigoverly enthusiastic or energetic
Polish napalony, podjarany
- napalonyoverly enthusiastic or energetic
- podjaranyoverly enthusiastic or energetic
Spanish pum para arriba
- pum para arribaoverly enthusiastic or energetic
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with gung ho
All rhymes →Cite this entry
gung ho. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gung%20ho
“gung ho.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gung%20ho. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gung ho,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gung%20ho.
Source: gung ho on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.