ENGLISH
REFERENCE

rampant

adj.
C1 Advanced US //ˈɹæmpənt// UK //ɹˈæmpənt// ram·pant Dialect Informal

adj. growing or happening quickly and in large amounts, usually in a bad way. You use it for problems that are spreading out of control.

adj. spreading or increasing rapidly and unchecked, typically in a negative context. Often used with 'growth', 'inflation', or 'disease'.


SIMPLE

Inflation is rampant in the city.

CONTEXTUAL

Rampant corruption in the local government made it hard for small businesses to survive.

COMPLEX

The report highlighted rampant inequality, noting how wealth concentrated at the top while basic services crumbled for the majority.

Synonyms
Origin

From Middle English rampand, rampend, present participle of rampen (“to rise by climbing, shoot up, sprout, sty, ascend”), from Old French ramper (“to creep, climb”) (see below), equivalent to ramp + -and or ramp + -ant. Recorded since 1382, "standing on the hind legs" (as in heraldry), later, "fierce, ravenous" (1387). Compare Scots rampand (“rampant”). Alternatively from Middle English rampant, from Old French rampant, the present participle of ramper (“to creep, climb”), equivalent to ramp + -ant. Old French ramper derives from Frankish rampōn, hrampōn (“to hook, grapple, climb”), from rampa, hrampa (“hook, claw, talon”), from Proto-Germanic hrempaną (“to curve, shrivel, shrink, wrinkle”).

Idioms1 entry

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