Word.ws English Dictionary

go rogue

go rogue verb: to begin to behave in an erratic, uncontrolled, dangerous, destructive, or savage way.

Verb

go rogue (third-person singular simple present goes rogue, present participle going rogue, simple past went rogue, past participle gone rogue)

  1. (intransitive) To begin to behave in an erratic, uncontrolled, dangerous, destructive, or savage way.
  2. (idiomatic, intransitive) To behave in a very unconventional, independent, uncontrolled, or unauthorized way that ignores rules, norms, or expectations.
    • As the Biden administration and its allies try to secure an elusive cease-fire in Gaza, Israel appears to have gone rogue.2024 August 2, Steven Erlanger, “Netanyahu, Defiant, Appears to Have Gone Rogue, Risking a Regional War”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
  3. (idiomatic, intransitive) To defect, or to repudiate allegiance, fealty, affiliation, or membership. (For example, a spy or soldier in relation to a country; or a politician in relation to a political party; or an employee; or a club member.)

Synonyms of go rogue

Forms of go rogue

third-person singular presentgoes rogue
present participlegoing rogue
pastwent rogue
past participlegone rogue

Questions about go rogue

What does go rogue mean?
Go rogue means to begin to behave in an erratic, uncontrolled, dangerous, destructive, or savage way.
What part of speech is go rogue?
Go rogue is a verb.
What is the past tense of go rogue?
The past tense of go rogue is went rogue.

Words near go rogue in the dictionary

  1. go poof
  2. go postal
  3. go potty
  4. go public
  5. go quietly
  6. go rogue
  7. go round
  8. go round in circles
  9. go round the houses
  10. go round with
  11. go screw yourself

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: go rogue (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.

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