gung-ho

American  

[guhng-hoh] / ˈgʌŋˈhoʊ /

adjective

1. wholeheartedly enthusiastic and loyal; eager; zealous.

   a gung-ho military outfit.

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adverb

1. in a successful manner.

   The business is going gung-ho.

gung ho British  

/ ɡʌŋ həʊ /

adjective

1. extremely enthusiastic and enterprising, sometimes to excess

2. extremely keen to participate in military combat

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gung-ho Cultural  

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

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gung ho Idioms  

1. 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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Etymology

Origin of gung-ho

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”

Example Sentences

Mr. Trump, focused on the nuclear program, was presumed to be less gung-ho about addressing the conventional missile threat.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025

This is one of the reasons U.S. corn farmers were so gung-ho on ethanol when it was introduced in the 2000s: It was a new use case for their product in a saturated commodity market.

From Barron's • Dec. 22, 2025

Not all of the younger generation of Robleses is as gung-ho about the family business as their parents are.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025

The Ellisons have made clear they’re gung-ho for infusing technology deeply into Hollywood.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025

He was not a gung-ho cop; he wasn’t quick to make an arrest, or to pull a gun, or to nail people just on general principles.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols