- amuck
- amok, amuckThe word is normally used in the phrase to run amok/amuck, meaning ‘to run about wildly in a violent rage’, and is an extension of a particular meaning in Malay anthropology
• (Edward now wore the manic look of some animal transferred into the wrong environment, as though he might run amok, or bite —Penelope Lively, 1990).
It also has figurative uses not involving physical action• (With Thatcher running amok through the welfare state, lobby groups are preoccupied defending what was once thought unassailable —New Scientist, 1991
• It wasn't his fault that her feelings seemed to be running amok —E. Rees, 1992).
Occasional unidiomatic uses occur• (The place was amok with running kids with running noses —weblog, BrE 2005 [OEC]).
The spelling amok, which is closer to the original Malay amoq meaning ‘attacking in frenzy’, is more common (five times more in the OEC) and is preferable.
Modern English usage. 2014.