Word
berserk
US/bɝˈsɝk/
UK/bəsˈɜːk/
Definition
n. a state of extreme confusion or madness. You might use it in slang to describe someone who is acting completely out of control.
n. a noun referring to a state of extreme mental disturbance or irrational behavior. Informal or dialectal usage.
Examples
“The toddler's behavior was a complete berserk.”
“The crowd's reaction to the announcement was a chaotic berserk, with people screaming and running in all directions.”
“The artist's latest work captures the essence of a berserk, where logic dissolves into a whirlwind of vivid, disjointed imagery and emotion.”
Examples
simple
“The toddler's behavior was a complete berserk.”
contextual
“The crowd's reaction to the announcement was a chaotic berserk, with people screaming and running in all directions.”
complex
“The artist's latest work captures the essence of a berserk, where logic dissolves into a whirlwind of vivid, disjointed imagery and emotion.”
Etymology
The noun is borrowed from Old Norse berserkr, meaning a warrior who fights in a frenzy. The term is likely composed of bjǫrn (bear) + serkr (coat), referring to the bearskins worn by the warriors. Bjǫrn may derive from Proto-Indo-European bʰerH- (“brown”); serkr from ser- (“to bind, tie together; thread”). An alternative theory suggests the first element comes from berr (“bare, naked”), referring to warriors who went into battle without armour, but this is now considered unlikely.
The adjective is derived from the noun. The verb may be a back-formation from berserker, analyzed as containing the suffix -er. Berserk is a doublet of berserker.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Idioms
go berserk — To enter a wild and uncontrollable state.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/berserk