amok
Americannoun
adjective
idioms
noun
adverb
Etymology
Origin of amok
First recorded in 1865–70, amok is from the Malay word amuk
Explanation
You think Mittens the kitten is gentle and sweet, and then one day she runs amok, ripping up Grandma's favorite armchair until its cottony guts are hanging out. Time to take Mittens to get her claws trimmed. Most of our words are rooted in Greek, Latin, or German, so it's refreshing to see a word that arose in a whole different language: amok's origins are in the Malay language of Indonesia. In the 1500s, a Portuguese writer and explorer named Duarte Barbosa described a murderous tribe on the island of Java as the "Amuco," and the word passed on into English. Amuco came from Amuk, a Malay word meaning "attacking furiously."
Vocabulary lists containing amok
Stargirl
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"Simplexity," Vocabulary from the science writing
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The Joy Luck Club
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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.
College sports may be amok but it still can dazzle.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
Now, the rest of them are rejecting the nice guy while Rapaport continues to run amok.
From Salon • Jan. 15, 2026
But concerns about a possible AI bubble are running amok, as stretched valuations within the technology sector draw an increasing amount of scrutiny.
From Barron's • Oct. 9, 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
Their carts bang into mine, their children run amok.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
