berserk 1 of 3

adverb

Definition of berserknext
as in frantically
in a confused and reckless manner the familiar scene in horror movies where everyone runs berserk as the monster destroys everything in sight

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

berserk

2 of 3

adjective

as in ballistic

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Dissimilar Words

berserk

3 of 3

noun

variants or berserker
as in cowboy

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of berserk
Adjective
This has unintended consequences when both Batel and Spock share a vision that sends Spock into a berserk rage. — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 31 July 2025 But that was before Watkins suffered a season-ending ACL tear and before UConn star Paige Bueckers went absolutely berserk, scoring 40 in the Sweet 16. — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2025
Noun
Peer in on the New York team making a medium-to-deep run in the playoffs as every New Yorker in your life goes berserk. — Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 16 May 2026 The crowd in Rio went berserk, and social media melted. — Bobby Ghosh, Time, 7 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for berserk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for berserk
  1. frantically
  2. ballistic
  3. cowboy
  4. wildly
  5. nuclear
  6. madman
  7. wild
  8. psychotic
Adverb
  • Video of the incident posted to TikTok show passengers frantically escaping the plane via its inflatable emergency slides on an airport taxiway.
    — Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 8 Aug. 2026
  • That’s when 72-year-old Leidis Rodríguez frantically cooked beans after the lights switched on this week following hours of uninterrupted blackouts.
    — Andrea Rodriguez, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of frantically
Adjective
  • However, these missiles, extensively used against Iranian ballistic threats, won't arrive until 2029, with the contract completing in 2032.
    — Frank Holmes, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • It is controlled using a four-axis joystick and includes automatic landing, motor redundancy and a ballistic parachute.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of ballistic
Noun
  • Our range includes a meandering cowboy odyssey that sprawls from a nowhere town in Texas to Big Sky country, a poignantly observant memoir from a wild child Dreamlander, and a careful dissection of a situationship set to the rhythms of 1970s Brazil.
    — Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Aug. 2026
  • More than 2 million people attend every year and are greeted by Big Tex, the iconic 55-foot cowboy mascot.
    — Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of cowboy
Adverb
  • Oren’s particular calibration across all aspects of her atmosphere, design, pacing, and performances make that movie an especially fascinating film to revisit, as the reading of it differs quite wildly each time.
    — Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Stewart had been singing with The Faces for several years before launching a wildly successful solo career in the early 1970s.
    — Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of wildly
Adjective
  • Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly has pushed back on suggestions that the agreement represents the creation of a new sectarian or military bloc, saying it is not connected to nuclear ambitions or an arms race.
    — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026
  • In comparison, the EIC is being developed specifically to explore the structure of nuclear matter.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of nuclear
Noun
  • Many writers travelled to Jonestown to survey the shambles and determine whether this was a utopian experiment gone astray or a madman’s fever dream destined to fail.
    — Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 14 July 2026
  • The garages at drag events are full of red-eyed madmen who have sold their houses and chased their wives and children away in pursuit of this.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 13 July 2026
Definition of madman
Adverb
  • Two more runs scored in the fourth inning when Ohtani, Pages and Freeman strung together three consecutive two-out singles and Keller wild-pitched a run home.
    — Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 12 June 2026
  • First, like cucumbers, squash is a wild-growing vegetable that competes for garden space, according to Dilmore.
    — Michelle Mastro, Martha Stewart, 9 June 2026
Definition of wild
Adjective
  • Psychiatric disorders are generally divided into mood disorders and psychotic disorders, Osborne said; postpartum psychosis is a mood disorder, in which mood symptoms accompany psychotic symptoms.
    — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026
  • But to make some generalization that all career women are psychotic because Glenn Close happened to be psychotic at the end of that movie is just silly.
    — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of psychotic

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berks
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Cite this Entry

“Berserk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/berserk. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on berserk

Nglish: Translation of berserk for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about berserk

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