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

See Examples For:

run amok

Witness his Federal Communications Commission, a recent case study in obsolescence run amok.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Gossip about the celebrity guest list has run amok.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026

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

From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2026

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

Lourdes blames Enrique’s grandmother Maria: she spoiled the boy and let him run amok.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Related Words

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