: an episode of sudden mass assault against people or objects usually by a single individual following a period of brooding that has traditionally been regarded as occurring especially in Malaysian culture but is now increasingly viewed as psychopathological behavior occurring worldwide in numerous countries and cultures
variants
or less commonly amuck
1
: in a violently raging, wild, or uncontrolled manner
—used in the phrase run amok
rioters running amok in the streets
Conditions had allowed extremism to run amok.
2
: in a murderously frenzied state
variants
or less commonly amuck
: possessed with or motivated by a murderous or violently uncontrollable frenzy
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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