berserk

[ ber-surk, -zurk ]
See synonyms for berserk on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. violently or destructively frenzied; wild; crazed; deranged: He suddenly went berserk.

noun
  1. (sometimes initial capital letter)Scandinavian Legend.Also ber·serk·er. an ancient Norse warrior who fought with frenzied rage in battle, possibly induced by eating hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Origin of berserk

1
1865–70; <Old Norse berserkr, equivalent to ber- (either *ber-, base of bjǫrnbear2 or berrbare1) + serkrsark, shirt, armor

Other words for berserk

Opposites for berserk

Other words from berserk

  • ber·serk·ly, adverb
  • ber·serk·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use berserk in a sentence

  • As for the other two famous images, the blood eagle and the berserker—those are the result of mistranslations.

  • There was more than one tradition in the berserker Scotch family to bear out the truth of it.

    The Weight of the Crown | Fred M. White
  • It seemed to him as if his heaven—the savage Walhalla of his Saxon or Danish berserker race—were opened before him.

    Overland | John William De Forest
  • It was not the headlong, reckless, pugnacious rage of the old Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian berserker.

    Overland | John William De Forest
  • Suaforlami was soon after slain by the Berserker Andgrim, who then became master of the sword.

  • Why is it that an outbreak of savage Berserker blood so often excites admiration in the spectator?

    Friendship and Folly | Maria Louise Pool

British Dictionary definitions for berserk

berserk

/ (bəˈzɜːk, -ˈsɜːk) /


adjective
  1. frenziedly violent or destructive (esp in the phrase go berserk)

noun
  1. Also called: berserker a member of a class of ancient Norse warriors who worked themselves into a frenzy before battle and fought with insane fury and courage

Origin of berserk

1
C19: Icelandic berserkr, from björn bear + serkr shirt

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012