amok
amok Lexical Profile
amok Game Scores & Validity
• adverb
In an uncontrolled, chaotic, or frenzied manner (especially in the phrase "run amok").
"Without proper oversight, project expenses quickly ran amok and exceeded the annual budget."
• adjective
Possessed by a frenzy or behaving in an uncontrolled, disruptive manner.
"The automated trading algorithm went completely amok during the sudden market crash."
• noun
An episode of sudden mass assault or acute, uncontrolled frenzy, originally documented in traditional Malaysian and Indonesian cultures.
"Cross-cultural psychiatrists have long studied the historical phenomenon of amok in Southeast Asia."
Word Nuance & Usage
In modern English, "amok" (also spelled "amuck") is used almost exclusively in the collocation "run amok" (or "go amok"), functioning either as an adverb or as a predicate adjective.
• Rhymes for amok
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the 17th century via Portuguese from Malay "amuk," meaning to make a furious and desperate charge.