vietcong
/ˌvi.ɛtˈkɑŋ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.34 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A communist organization and guerrilla army in South Vietnam and Cambodia that waged an insurgency against the South Vietnamese government, the United States, South Korea, and Australia during the Vietnam War. It was ultimately directed by communist North Vietnam, supported by China and the Soviet Union, and formally organized as the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam in 1960.
noun
A member of this organization.
Example Sentences
- "Then I went to Cam Ranh Bay, a huge base, and received the same official briefing, upbeat and hopeful. Afterward, I asked the briefing officer if he thought any Vietcong were working on the base itself. He said yes. I asked how many, and he said, “We figure twenty to thirty percent of our employees are Vietcong.”"
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Vietnamese Việt Cộng, short for Việt Nam cộng sản (“Vietnamese communist”). First attested in English in 1957.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌvi.ɛtˈkɑŋ/
- British English: /ˌviː.ɛtˈkɒŋ/