rampant
Americanadjective
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violent in action or spirit; raging; furious.
a rampant leopard.
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growing luxuriantly, as weeds.
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in full sway; prevailing or unchecked.
a rampant rumor.
- Synonyms:
- unrestrained, widespread, rife
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(of an animal) standing on the hind legs; ramping.
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Heraldry. (of a beast used as a charge) represented in profile facing the dexter side, with the body upraised and resting on the left hind leg, the tail and other legs elevated, the right foreleg highest, and the head in profile unless otherwise specified.
a lion rampant.
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Architecture. (of an arch or vault) springing at one side from one level of support and resting at the other on a higher level.
adjective
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unrestrained or violent in behaviour, desire, opinions, etc
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growing or developing unchecked
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(postpositive) heraldry (of a beast) standing on the hind legs, the right foreleg raised above the left
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(of an arch) having one abutment higher than the other
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rampant
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French, literally, “creeping, climbing,” present participle of ramper “to creep, crawl, climb”; see ramp 1
Explanation
Rampant means wild or out of control. Unruly children might run rampant at the supermarket, knocking cereal boxes off shelves and thoroughly annoying the customers. If you're running rampant, you're on a rampage. Both come from the French word ramper meaning "to climb, creep" like an animal on hind legs, paws in climbing-mode, or like wild plants such as the kudzu that ran rampant over an old barn until the entire thing was covered. There can also be rampant wildfires that destroy houses in the Southwest, or robots that run rampant in the lab after the janitor accidentally sets them free.
Vocabulary lists containing rampant
The Diary of a Young Girl
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Beowulf
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This Week in Words: September 4 - 8, 2017
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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.
Although ICE raids aren’t as rampant here as they were a year ago, the South Central community faces new challenges in the midst of changes to federal spending.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Summer, a season of good eats and fresh produce, has been tainted by a rampant parasitic outbreak that’s made us all scared to indulge in a generous plate of Caesar salad.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
The frenzied scenes around this clammy building eventually abated, only for Faye Rogers to spark more bedlam with a rampant gold in the 200m individual medley SM10.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Others were vulnerable because of shoddy construction amid rampant corruption that undermined an otherwise-strong building code.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Shin did not yet know this, but grassroots capitalism, vagabond trading, and rampant corruption were creating cracks in the police state that surrounded Camp 14.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
