Amok
adv, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 One who runs amok; in Malay and Moro/Philippine culture, one who attempts to kill many others, especially expecting that they will be killed themselves.
"One morning, as we were sitting at breakfast, Mr. Carter's servant informed us that there was an "Amok" in the village--in other words, that a man was "running a muck.""
- 2 A kind of Southeast Asian curry steamed in banana leaves native to Cambodia. uncountable
- 3 The act of running amok.
"On the morning of the amok this person met him, and asked him to work at his boat “He replied that he could not, he was very much afflicted.”[…]The amok took place on the 8th, the trial on the 13th, and the execution on the 15th July,—all within eight days."
- 1 Synonym of run amok.
"The Rájá not listening to this language, again tried to kill Gumpar with a spear, and all his people assisted in thrusting and cutting at him; there was a great hubbub, and people outside of the fort were astonished to learn that there was amoking within it."
- 1 wildly frenzied and out of control wordnet
- 1 Out of control, especially when armed and dangerous.
- 2 In a frenzy of violence, or on a killing spree; berserk.
"It is true, I […] might have run “amok” against society; but I preferred that society should run “amok” against me, it being the desperate party."
- 1 in a murderous frenzy wordnet
- 2 wildly; without self-control wordnet
Example
More examples"Until the teacher appeared, the children were running amok in the classroom."
Etymology
Borrowed from Portuguese amouco, from Malay amuk (“to go on a killing spree”). The term first appeared in English around the 16th century, associated with the people of Malaysia and Java, first described in the 1516 text The Book of Duarte Barbosa, which was translated to English by Henry E. J. Stanley.
From Khmer អាម៉ុក (ʼaamok, “to steam in banana leaves”)
Related phrases
More for "amok"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.