run rampant

verb

To go unchecked or without control; to be wild or excessive.

“The weeds have long run rampant in the garden and it would be difficult to regain control.”

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Meanings

verbrun rampant (third-person singular simple present runs rampant, present participle running rampant, simple past ran rampant, past participle run rampant)

present singular third person runs rampant · participle present running rampant · past ran rampant

  1. idiomaticTo go unchecked or without control; to be wild or excessive.

    The weeds have long run rampant in the garden and it would be difficult to regain control.

    1 more example

    Conditions were horrendous aboard most British naval vessels at the time. Scurvy and other diseases ran rampant, killing more seamen each year than all other causes combined, including combat.

    2012 March 28, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
run wild
Cite this entry
APA

run rampant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20rampant

MLA

“run rampant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20rampant. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “run rampant,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20rampant.

Source: run rampant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.