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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

gonzo.

Using an unconventional, exaggerated, and highly subjective style, often when the reporter takes part in the events of the story.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈɡɑnzoʊ/US/ˈɡɒnzəʊ/UK
  1. Using an unconventional, exaggerated, and highly subjective style, often when the reporter takes part in the events of the story.

  2. Unconventional, bizarre, crazy.

Where this word comes from

Coined in 1971 by Boston Globe editor Bill Cardoso. Of uncertain origin; OED proposes Italian gonzo (“dolt”) and / or Spanish ganso (“dolt, goose”). The etymology supplied by Cardoso himself (French gonzeaux) is spurious; French does have a similar word gonze, but this is a loan from Italian.

noun/ˈɡɑnzoʊ/US/ˈɡɒnzəʊ/UK
  1. Gonzo journalism or a journalist who produces such journalism.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A wild or crazy person.

    countable
Where this word comes from

Coined in 1971 by Boston Globe editor Bill Cardoso. Of uncertain origin; OED proposes Italian gonzo (“dolt”) and / or Spanish ganso (“dolt, goose”). The etymology supplied by Cardoso himself (French gonzeaux) is spurious; French does have a similar word gonze, but this is a loan from Italian.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.