From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrampantram‧pant /ˈræmpənt/ adjective 1 CONTROLif something bad, such as crime or disease, is rampant, there is a lot of it and it is very difficult to control → rife, widespread Pickpocketing is rampant in the downtown area. rampant inflation2 HBPa plant that is rampant grows and spreads quickly, in a way that is difficult to control —rampantly adverb
Examples from the Corpus
rampant• Corruption soon became rampant.• Already, voters seem to think political corruption is rampant.• But the greed and the amorality ar not as rampant as the public seems to think.• It wasn't military action but rampant disease that finally caused the population to surrender.• rampant garden weeds• The scourge of unemployment was added to that of rampant inflation.• Inflation - rampant since independence - now went mad.• The game was hardly artistic, flowing with penalties and turnovers and rampant sloppiness.• A rich soil soon becomes home to rampant weeds which smother less competitive, more attractive plants.rampant inflation• The scourge of unemployment was added to that of rampant inflation.• The rampant inflation that followed Henry VIII's currency speculations and which his successors could hardly limit hit them most of all.Origin rampant (1300-1400) French present participle of ramper “to climb, crawl” 