amok

/əˈmɒk/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/əˈmɒk/

amok adverb: out of control, especially when armed and dangerous.

Adverb

amok (comparative more amok, superlative most amok)

Out of control, especially when armed and dangerous.
In a frenzy of violence, or on a killing spree; berserk.
- It is true, I […] might have run “amok” against society; but I preferred that society should run “amok” against me, it being the desperate party.1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “The Village”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 186

Noun (1)

amok (plural amoks)

One who runs amok; in Malay and Moro/Philippine culture, one who attempts to kill many others, especially expecting that they will be killed themselves.
- One morning, as we were sitting at breakfast, Mr. Carter's servant informed us that there was an "Amok" in the village--in other words, that a man was "running a muck."1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 272
The act of running amok.
- On the morning of the amok this person met him, and asked him to work at his boat “He replied that he could not, he was very much afflicted.”[…]The amok took place on the 8th, the trial on the 13th, and the execution on the 15th July,—all within eight days.1849, “Malay Amoks Referred to Mahomedanism”, in J. R. Logan, editor, The Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, volume III, Singapore: […] G. M. Frederick, “Sentence of death upon a...
- Among the ancients these would have been looked upon as heroes or demigods who sacrificed themselves for their country. Here it is simply said--they made "amok."1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 273

Verb

amok (third-person singular simple present amoks, present participle amoking, simple past and past participle amoked)

Synonym of run amok.
- The Rájá not listening to this language, again tried to kill Gumpar with a spear, and all his people assisted in thrusting and cutting at him; there was a great hubbub, and people outside of the fort were astonished to learn that there was amoking within it.1849, James Low, “A Translation of the Keddah Annals Termed Marong Mahawangsa; and Sketches of the Ancient Condition of Some of the Nations of Eastern Asia, with References to the Malays”, in J. R....
- After being there about ten minutes he revived, and soon entered into conversation with us; but he looked fiendish, as if something was preying upon his mind. This we found to be the case, as some gay Lothario had lately robbed him of his intended bride. Such causes in most instances lead to the...1866, Charles Brooke, Ten Years in Saráwak, volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], pages 27 and 55
Synonyms:

run amok

Noun (2)

amok (uncountable)

(Cambodia) A kind of Southeast Asian curry steamed in banana leaves native to Cambodia.

amok meaning in Urdu, Malay and Indonesian

amok in Malay

in a frenzy of violence, or on a killing spree; berserk: amuk

amok in Indonesian

in a frenzy of violence, or on a killing spree; berserk: amuk, mengamuk

Examples of amok in a sentence

Yet, like the squall, the frenzied amoker has but a short career,[…]1874, Translations from the Hakayit Abdulla (bin Abdulkadar), Mūnshi, London: Henry S. King & Co., […], pages 133, 233 and 234:
For the convenience of this paper I shall call the man who runs Amok an “Amoker,” and the crime “Amoking.” /[…]I believe Penang has claimed that the Chief Justice’s (Sir Wm.1893 July, W. Gilmore Ellis, “The Amok of the Malays”, in D. Hack Tuke, Geo. H. Savage, editors, The Journal of Mental Science, volume...
Such causes in most instances lead to the Malay amoking (running a-muck).[…]I have never yet known a case of a Dyak amoking, yet it was of frequent occurrence among Malays in former times.1866, Charles Brooke, Ten Years in Saráwak, volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], pages 27 and 55:
A Dutch admiral was “amoked” on his own quarter-deck when receiving a Javanese chief and his family on board, he having saluted (as was the custom of his country at that time) the chief’s daughter.1874, Translations from the Hakayit Abdulla (bin Abdulkadar), Mūnshi, London: Henry S. King & Co., […], pages 133 and 138:

Synonyms of amok

run amok

Forms of amok

Adverb
comparative	more amok
superlative	most amok
alternative form	amuck
alternative form	amock
Noun
plural	amoks
Verb
third-person singular present	amoks
present participle	amoking
past participle	amoked
past	amoked

Origin of amok

Borrowed from Portuguese amouco, from Malay amuk (“to go on a killing spree”). The term first appeared in English around the 16th century, associated with the people of Malaysia and Java, first described in the 1516 text The Book of Duarte Barbosa, which was translated to English by Henry E. J. Stanley.

Borrowed from Khmer អាម៉ុក (ʼaamok, “to steam in banana leaves”).

Words formed from amok

run amok

Phrases with amok

Words that rhyme with amok

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about amok

What does amok mean?: Amok means out of control, especially when armed and dangerous.
What is amok in Urdu?: Amok in Urdu is قاتلانہ دیوانگی. See Amok meaning in Urdu.
How do you use amok in a sentence?: Yet, like the squall, the frenzied amoker has but a short career,[…]
What part of speech is amok?: Amok can be an adverb, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce amok?: Amok is pronounced /əˈmɒk/.

Words near amok in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: amok (page history and authors); amok (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-amok.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-amok.wav.

Cite this entry: “amok.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/amok. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.