rampant

Intermediatezipf 3.55

Pronunciation

/ˈræmpənt/(RAM-punt)

Part of speech

adjectiveneutral

Chinese

泛滥的；猖獗的；不受控制的（贬义）

Definition

Spreading uncontrollably; existing or happening widely in an undesirable way.

Word family

  • rampantly/ˈræmpəntli/(adv)猖獗地

Collocations

  • rampant corruption
  • rampant inflation
  • rampant crime
  • run rampant

Examples

  1. 1.Corruption is rampant in some developing nations. (uncontrolled, widespread)
  2. 2.Misinformation has run rampant on social media. (spread wildly)

Synonyms

  • widespread/ˈwaɪdsprɛd/— broadly distributed, neutral
  • uncontrolled/ˌʌnkənˈtrəʊld/— not restrained
  • rife/raɪf/— very common, usually negative

Etymology

from Old French "ramper" = to creep, climb — like a vine growing wildly out of control