Did you know?
Print evidence of amok in English was first recorded in the 1600s, when the word was used as a noun meaning "murderous frenzy." Visitors to Southeast Asia had reported witnessing the suffering and effects of a psychiatric disorder known in Malay as amok. Typically, the afflicted person (usually a man) attacked bystanders in a frenzy, killing everyone in sight until he collapsed or was himself killed. By the end of the 17th century English speakers had adopted both the noun and adverb forms of amok, as well as the phrase "run amok," a translation of the Malay verb mengamok. The adverb, in time, has mitigated its violent nature; it usually describes the actions of the unruly and not the murderous.
Synonyms
Examples of amok in a Sentence
Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024
All the while, Elon Musk—a far-right activist and the site’s owner, who is campaigning for and giving away millions to help elect Donald Trump—amplifies horrendous conspiracy theories about voter fraud, migrants run amok, and the idea that Jewish people hate white people.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 16 Apr. 2021
See all Example Sentences for amok 
Dictionary Entries Near amok
Cite this Entry
“Amok.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amok. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
Christopher A. Kearney and Timothy J. Trull, Abnormal Psychology and LifeMichael Gomez, in Encyclopedia of Multicultural Psychology
Share