run amok

Idioms  

1. Also,. Behave in a frenzied, out-of-control, or unrestrained manner. For example, I was afraid that if I left the toddler alone she would run amok and have a hard time calming down, or The weeds are running riot in the lawn, or The children were running wild in the playground. Amok comes from a Malay word for “frenzied” and was adopted into English, and at first spelled amuck, in the second half of the 1600s. Run riot dates from the early 1500s and derives from an earlier sense, that is, a hound's following an animal scent. Run wild alludes to an animal reverting to its natural, uncultivated state; its figurative use dates from the late 1700s.

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Example Sentences

Now, the rest of them are rejecting the nice guy while Rapaport continues to run amok.

From Salon • Jan. 15, 2026

The poster child for vendor financing run amok was Lucent Technologies.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 22, 2025

Their defending has been such an abomination that Celtic, with no dependable striker but with a point to prove, could potentially run amok.

From BBC • Aug. 30, 2025

On Bourbon Street, consumerism and short-term gratification run amok: barkers hawk neon drinks, discarded plastic crunches underfoot, pounding drumbeats and flashing lights override rational thought.

From Slate • Jan. 7, 2025

Burr embodied Hamilton’s daring and energy run amok in a political culture still groping for its stable shape.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• defy
• overthrow
• renounce
• resist
• revolt
• secede
• take up arms