Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Slang Using an exaggerated, highly subjective style, especially in journalism: "a hyperkinetic, gonzo version of Graham Greene” ( New Yorker).
- adj. Slang Bizarre; unconventional.
Wiktionary
- adj. journalism Using an unconventional, exaggerated and highly subjective style, often when the reporter is part of the story.
- n. A wild or crazy person
WordNet 3.0
- adj. conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
Etymologies
- Perhaps Italian, simpleton (perhaps short for Borgonzone, Burgundian) or Spanish ganso, dullard, goose (of Germanic origin). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“He pioneered what became known as gonzo journalism, living life on the edge and famously writing about his experiences.”
“Looking at the messages in the media that perpetuate rape myths and even make us very rape tolerant is crucial to primary prevention of this type of violence (e.g., take pornography - both the "soft core" and the "gonzo" - how pornography in general has become so much more mainstream, just as the more violent and hateful versions have become more extreme). thank you for the good work you do! goedel”
“George Condo: A Collection of Etchings | Condo is typically known for bold paintings so brash as to be referred to as gonzo "artificial realism," the term the artist uses to describe his works, which by turns are meditative, wry, irreverent and fantastical, reflecting Condo's now-iconic surrealistic mash-up of old and modern masters.”
The Huffington Post: Bill Bush: I Shot Andy Warhol: This Artweek.LA (June 13-19)
“In Pornland, you focus on the mainstream and dominant force in the industry, gonzo, which is marketed exclusively to heterosexual men and boys and is incredibly brutal and misogynistic.”
The Huffington Post: Jackson Katz: Interview With Porn Scholar, Part 2: Business and Culture
“In the process, he gave birth to a new form of journalism, called gonzo, in which the writer did not just participate in the story but became it.”
“Gary Oldman, who first made his name playing gonzo bad guys Sid Vicious, Dracula, Lee Harvey Oswald but has been moving in middle age toward more muted, self-effacing roles, delivers what may be the performance of his career as Smiley, a bookish, remote, seemingly colorless man whose still waters run very deep indeed.”
“He became successful as a Top 40 morning radio host; after the Reagan administration dismantled a lot of the regulatory structure for radio in the mid-80s, Beck became a star of what was known as gonzo radio.”
“This is classified as gonzo, but I would say it's more of a feature-BDSM.”
“A great example of what was to be called gonzo journalism (I don't use that as a pejorative term).”
“Author seems to have some hidden obsession with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as on of main attributes he considers in books he reviewed is how "gonzo" each book is, whatever it means.”
"New" as the Enemy of Excellence « L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘gonzo’.
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Genes
Interesting gene names. Some of these may have changed recently (to something less offensive/funny).
http://www.genenames.org/
tinman, agnostic, dreadlocks, Van Gogh, fruitless, lava lamp, ariadne, cheap date, ken and barbie, I'm not dead yet, I'm not dead yet 2, manic fringe and 1192 more... -
Mountain Biking
Words that relate to bicycling or mountain biking
crank, podium, attack position, bonk, rock garden, babyheads, bunny hop, chain, chainring, clipless, freeride, slicks and 206 more...
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Big Top
roadshow, hooplah, derring do, acrobat, buffoonery, cavort, hijinks, gaiety, frolic, ringmaster, stilts, tightrope and 77 more...
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Uncommon and Interesting words
That come in handy, but might make you look like a douchebag.
prurient, lithe, superannuated, wanderlust, sanguine, florid, slugabed, candor, eldritch, superbowl syndrome, indolent, perforce and 37 more...
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marginalia
exuberance, potsherds, earthbound, marcher, märchen, pastiche, transliterated, crocodile, oxbridge, jejune, publican, antithesis and 143 more...
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Quirkstyle
Fashion elegance, oddities, styles, and cool garments.
tatterdemalion, froufrou, gingham, argyle, corset, hoop skirt, pantaloons, bloomers, jaunty, seersucker, twill, ganguro and 126 more...
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imogen's Words
coagitate, cloche, harum-scarum, foxglove, cryptolect, cant, roux, angora, duff, ulysse, schadenfreude, pepperpot and 315 more...
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kimo2000's Words
pakalolo, miliated, voodoo, vindaloo, hacienda, acquiesce, addlepated, olio, akimbo, apropos, oogenesis, arugula and 181 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, G
grocer, gabanergic, gabardine, gabbro, gaffe, gneiss, grapple, grosgrain, grommet, gratify, gossamer, goofy and 194 more...
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hedges's Words
wii, crepuscule, adumbrate, concatenation, sufi, qawwali, furry, riot, mellifluous, conspiracy, etymology, tea cozy and 369 more...
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The braggadocio recipe
A selection of English* words ending with a vowel (except "y", "ea", ie", "ee", "oo", "ea", "ou") that is REALLY pronounced.
My favorite English words, by the way.
The good twin of The ...braggadocio, recipe, encyclopedia, solo, gnu, flu, maybe, apocope, mini, arrhythmia, folio, stereo and 197 more...
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dann's words
just some nice words that i like.
beamish, snark, sundry, contrariwise, salsify, cephalopod, omphaloskepsis, grok, resistentialism, peristerophobia, aglet, ferrule and 125 more...
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Words. Just words.
Our chief weapons are words, that's all. Just words. Only words, not justly words, that is.
That is to say that there are only words in this list, not words that are just, although s...profligacy, monty, the arc of history, luddite, peremptory, brusque, languid, callipygian, perniciously, insidiousness, camelot, perforce and 189 more...
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msc's Words
pugilist, threepeat, bloviate, palaver, syncreism, pastiche, eschatology, peripatetic, glossolalia, busker, nudnik, troglodyte and 213 more...
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EN - funny (single) words
"Fornication" is not equal to "formication".
Words with funny meaning, spelling or both.barratry, bastinado, bezonian, bibcock, bibliobibuli, biffy, bodewash, boeotian, boondoggle, borborygmic, bosky, brobdingnagian and 729 more...
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Well, Everyone Else Has A Hate-List, ...
When I rule the planet, the undermentioned items shall all be corrrected or expunged. In some cases I don't like the item from a linguistic point of view, in others I don't like what the item repre...
big-box store, ms, wonderation, disinterest, milquetoast, emoticon, herstory, australia, zero-sum game, specialism, assessable, pebblecrete and 52 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for gonzo.

alexz in cycling, it is also the crazy unconventional stunt
Jan 12, 2013
sionnach Does that mean there's a kind of pornography called garbanzo porn. Maybe that was what was wrong with the PETA ad that was rejected from the Superbowl -- too many busty vegetarians getting naked in large vats of garbanzo beans.
Hot hummus vegetarian-on-vegetarian action. Feb 1, 2009
bilby Garbanzo bean? Feb 1, 2009
shadesofinsanity Isn't there a bean called the "gonzo bean"? Feb 1, 2009
seanahan That, or the muppet. Aug 13, 2007
oroboros Not sure, but I'd guess this was popularized by Hunter S. Thompson's "gonzo journalism"... Aug 13, 2007