Word
amok
US/əˈmək/
UK/ɐmˈɒk/
Definition
adv. acting in a very violent way, often trying to hurt many people.
adv. in a state of murderous or suicidal frenzy; historically associated with specific cultural contexts in Southeast Asia.
Examples
“The crowd was running amok after the game ended.”
“The police had to intervene quickly as the situation was running amok in the crowded stadium.”
“The protagonist's descent into madness is depicted as a series of increasingly erratic actions, culminating in a state where he is running amok through the city streets.”
Examples
simple
“The crowd was running amok after the game ended.”
contextual
“The police had to intervene quickly as the situation was running amok in the crowded stadium.”
complex
“The protagonist's descent into madness is depicted as a series of increasingly erratic actions, culminating in a state where he is running amok through the city streets.”
Real-World Examples
“They’ve drunk beer and shot pool, run amok and made out, and now there’s nothing on the horizon except an Aerosmith concert and the month of June.” Etymology
Borrowed from Portuguese amouco, from Malay amuk (“to go on a killing spree”). The term first appeared in English around the 16th century, associated with the people of Malaysia and Java, first described in the 1516 text The Book of Duarte Barbosa, which was translated to English by Henry E. J. Stanley.
From Khmer អាម៉ុក (ʼaamok, “to steam in banana leaves”)
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms
Idioms
run amok — To go on a rampage; to be in an uncontrollable rage.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/amok