Illustration of rampant
- a lion rampant
1
a
: rearing upon the hind legs with forelegs extended
b
: standing on one hind foot with one foreleg raised above the other and the head in profile
—used of a heraldic animal
2
a
: marked by a menacing wildness, extravagance, or absence of restraint
rampant rumors
b
: profusely widespread
rampant weeds
rampantly
adverb
Examples of rampant in a Sentence
a weed that's rampant in this area
the mayor promised to put a stop to the rampant crime that plagued the city
Recent Examples on the Web
State media has since published a barrage of scathing commentaries and editorials, while rampant social media discussion has disparaged Takaichi, Japan’s first woman prime minister.
—
Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 15 Nov. 2025
One director of the Innocenti, who came aboard in the mid-fifteen-hundreds, simply stopped assigning girls to outside domestic work, owing to rampant rape and abuse.
—Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2025
The idea of actively defining an ethos apart from rampant gain and living by it in such a way as to let others live too… That doesn’t enter the picture.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025
This could make for an intriguing shootout between Maye and Baker Mayfield, who is playing the best ball of his career and has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers off to a 6-2 start despite rampant injuries along his offensive line and wide receiving unit.
—Mike Jones, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rampant
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Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 15 Nov. 2025
One director of the Innocenti, who came aboard in the mid-fifteen-hundreds, simply stopped assigning girls to outside domestic work, owing to rampant rape and abuse.
—Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2025
The idea of actively defining an ethos apart from rampant gain and living by it in such a way as to let others live too… That doesn’t enter the picture.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025
This could make for an intriguing shootout between Maye and Baker Mayfield, who is playing the best ball of his career and has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers off to a 6-2 start despite rampant injuries along his offensive line and wide receiving unit.
—Mike Jones, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rampant
Cite this Entry
“Rampant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rampant. Accessed 18 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
rampant
adjective
ram·pant
ˈram-pənt 
also -ˌpant
1
: standing on the hind legs like a horse rearing
2
: not checked in growth or spread
rumor ran rampant
rampantly
adverb
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