IELTS TOEFL SAT TEM8 GRE
外刊例句
- But as the 20th century drew to a close this arms race in antibiotics became harder because of their rampant use worldwide — on humans, livestock and crops.
但在上世纪末，这场抗生素的军备竞赛变得更加艰难，因为它们在世界各地被滥用，包括用于人类、牲畜和农作物。
——《经济学人》 - On Thursday, Katsunobu Kato, Japan’s health minister, said he had informed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that there was evidence that Japan was now at a high risk of rampant infection.
周四，日本厚生劳动大臣加藤胜信说，他已告知首相安倍晋三，有证据表明，日本目前有很高的感染失控风险。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[adjective] (especially of something unwelcome or unpleasant) flourishing or spreading unchecked
[形容词] （尤指不受欢迎或令人不快的事物）不受控制地蓬勃发展或蔓延
深入解读
Rampant 源自古法语 ramper （爬、攀登），14世纪末进入英语时表示“后腿站立”，比如纹章图案中的狮子（heraldic lion）就是如此，以后腿为支点跃立并扬起前爪作扑击状。
摆出这副姿势的野兽张牙舞爪随时准备捕食猎物，样子十分吓人，所以 rampant 随后开始表示“凶猛的、贪婪的”。
而到了17世纪初， rampant 进一步引申出现今的主要含义“（犯罪、疾病等坏事）泛滥的、猖獗的”，强调不受限制的或狂野的迅速蔓延，比如：
- 疾病在过分拥挤的城市中肆虐。
Disease is rampant in the overcrowded city. - 流言已四处传开。
Gossip has run rampant.
另外， rampant 还可以用来形容植物“疯长的、蔓延的”，比如：
- 肥沃的土壤很快就成了杂草丛生的地方
A rich soil soon becomes home to rampant weeds.
权威用例
缺乏约束的持枪自由导致枪支暴力泛滥，对公民的生命、人身、财产安全构成了严重威胁。
The lack of restraint in the right to hold guns has led to rampant gun violence, posing a serious threat to citizens' life and property safety.
出自《2019年美国侵犯人权报告》（The Record of Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2019）。
同近义词
- pandemic: (of a disease) prevalent over a whole country or the world
- pervasive: (especially of an unwelcome influence or physical effect) spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people
- rife: (especially of something undesirable or harmful) of common occurrence; widespread
