Rampant
adj, adv, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended.
"The Vienna riding school displays splendid rampant movement."
- 2 Rearing up, especially on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.
"‘I forget your coat of arms.’ ‘A human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.’"
- 3 Tilted, said of an arch with one side higher than the other, or a vault whose two abutments are located on an inclined plane.
- 4 Unrestrained or unchecked, usually in a negative manner.
"Weeds are rampant in any neglected garden."
- 5 Rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly.
"There was rampant corruption in the city."
- 1 (of a plant) having a lush and unchecked growth wordnet
- 2 unrestrained and violent wordnet
- 3 rearing on left hind leg with forelegs elevated and head usually in profile wordnet
- 1 Rampantly. informal, nonstandard
"Things seem to be running rampant around here lately."
Example
More examples"Fiscal austerity is considered to be an answer to the rampant inflation."
Etymology
From Middle English rampand, rampend, present participle of rampen (“to rise by climbing, shoot up, sprout, sty, ascend”), from Old French ramper (“to creep, climb”) (see below), equivalent to ramp + -and or ramp + -ant. Recorded since 1382, "standing on the hind legs" (as in heraldry), later, "fierce, ravenous" (1387). Compare Scots rampand (“rampant”). Alternatively from Middle English *rampant, from Old French rampant, the present participle of ramper (“to creep, climb”), equivalent to ramp + -ant. Old French ramper derives from Frankish *rampōn, *hrampōn (“to hook, grapple, climb”), from *rampa, *hrampa (“hook, claw, talon”), from Proto-Germanic *hrempaną (“to curve, shrivel, shrink, wrinkle”).
Related phrases
More for "rampant"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.