rampage
Americannoun
-
violent or excited behavior that is reckless, uncontrolled, or destructive.
-
a state of violent anger or agitation.
The smallest mistake sends him into a rampage. The river has gone on a rampage and flooded the countryside.
verb (used without object)
verb
noun
-
angry or destructive behaviour
-
behaving violently or destructively
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
rampagesimple
-
rampagessimple
-
have rampagedperfect
-
has rampagedperfect
-
am rampagingprogressive
-
are rampagingprogressive
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is rampagingprogressive
-
have been rampagingperfect progressive
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has been rampagingperfect progressive
Past
-
rampagedsimple
-
had rampagedperfect
-
was rampagingprogressive
-
were rampagingprogressive
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had been rampagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rampage
Explanation
A rampage is when a group of people is destructive and out of control, like an angry, violent riot following an unpopular political decision. A single individual can go on a rampage, wreaking havoc and destruction, but the word most often describes the actions of an angry mob. You can also use rampage as a verb, as when furious football fans rampage through a town overturning cars and setting things on fire. The word was originally Scottish, from the Middle English ramp, "rave or rush wildly about."
Vocabulary lists containing rampage
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Even as the child cries “Mommy,” Paul continues on her rampage.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2026
You would have an executive that was just on a rampage, with no one willing to stand up.
From Slate • Mar. 4, 2026
Frankel may have been underworked in Team USA’s one-sided rampage to the gold medal game, but Thursday she was on the brink until Keller finished it off.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
Bayern continued the rampage early in the second half, with Olise scoring and forcing Wolfsburg's Moritz Jenz into conceding another own goal inside the space of three minutes.
From Barron's • Jan. 11, 2026
Bunny, who had been relatively calm, was now on a rampage because Henry refused to drive him down to Washington, D.C., to see an exhibit of World War I biplanes at the Smithsonian.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
