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rampant

/ˈɹæm.pənt/adjective, adverb

rampant is an adjective meaning “Rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-A-M-P-A-N-T and has 2 syllables, and it appears 3.5 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does rampant mean?

adjective

  1. 1

    Rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended.

    The Vienna riding school displays splendid rampant movement.

  2. 2

    Rearing up, especially on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.

  3. 3

    Tilted, said of an arch with one side higher than the other, or a vault whose two abutments are located on an inclined plane.

  4. 4

    Unrestrained or unchecked, usually in a negative manner.

    Weeds are rampant in any neglected garden.

  5. 5

    Rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly.

    There was rampant corruption in the city.

adverb

  1. 1

    informalnonstandardRampantly.

    Things seem to be running rampant around here lately.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce rampant?

  • /ˈɹæm.pənt/

Rampant has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-rampant.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of rampant

  • more rampant comparative
  • most rampant superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is rampant?

Rampant appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Rampant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germansich aufbäumend (rearing animal), zügellos (unrestrained), ungezügelt (rife and menacing)
Frencheffréné (unrestrained), rampant (heraldry)
Portuguesegalopante, desenfreado (unrestrained)
Spanishdesenfrenado, galopante, rampante, sin mesura (unrestrained), endémico, extendidísimo (rife and menacing)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does rampant come from?

From Middle English rampand, rampend, present participle of rampen (“to rise by climbing, shoot up, sprout, sty, ascend”), from Old French ramper (“to creep, climb”) (see below), equivalent to ramp + -and or ramp + -ant. Recorded since 1382, "standing on the hind legs" (as in heraldry), later, "fierce, ravenous" (1387). Compare Scots rampand (“rampant”). Alternatively from Middle English *rampant, from Old French rampant, the present participle of ramper (“to creep, climb”), equivalent to ramp + -ant.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).