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Glite Dictionary
from the word go

from the word go

3 5.3
From the very beginning of something
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : desde el principio
  • Her enthusiasm for the project was evident from the word go.
  • right from the word go

Once you hear somebody's story and, and everything that they've been through from, from the word go.

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Examples

  • Children had adult responsibility from the word go and were punished in the same way adults were.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Unfortunately, he was a cheapskate from the word go. Deborah had broken off a four-month relationship with her most recent boyfriend, David Curtis, the week before.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The background radiation in this system has been giving us problems from the word go.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • And our first experience as a country in international competitions was so positive because we won medals from the word go.

    Kipchoge: The Last Milestone (2021)

  • And she saw Hitler as a disaster for the Jews from the word go.

    Academic text (2007)

  • ETHAN: Your brother's plan was bad from the word go.

    Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

  • He was bad news from the word go.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • You've got a very different reaction from the word go, OK?

  • I think the trouble was that Meg knew she was behaving badly, so she set out to defend her position right from the word go.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Youngsters should be taught to conserve their allowances from the word go.

    Blog text (19)

Synonyms

to begin with
vsfrom the word go
274 2.3

At the start before anything else happens

is focused on stating immediate timing rather than introducing points
in the beginning
vsfrom the word go
246 1.4

At the start of something

is used for immediate origin rather than a broader early stage
from the get-go
vsfrom the word go
  • Informal
52 6.6

Right from the very start

is a neutral phrase that notes timing without slang
ab initio
vsfrom the word go
  • Formal
9.9

From the beginning

is an everyday phrasing that expresses the same early timing
in initio
vsfrom the word go
  • Jargon
9.9

From the start with no legal effect

is a neutral common form used widely outside legal contexts

Antonyms

eventually
∞ 3.0

After a long time

afterward
  • US
204 1.1

At a later time

How Early

from the word go
  • Informal
3 5.3
straight off
8 3.0
later
1.0

Surface Forms

from the word go positive

Morphology

from + the + word + go

The sense is partially inferable because 'from' marks a starting point and 'go' signals the start of an action, so a learner who knows the words could plausibly guess 'from the beginning'. However the fixed collocation 'the word go' relies on the conventional use of 'go' as a start signal and is idiomatic in structure, so the meaning is not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

From the word go may come from old races or games where the starter shouted the word go to begin, so it means 'from the very beginning'.