Word Confusion: Amok versus Amuck

Revised as of
30 Aug 2022

I came across amok in a story, and I thought it should have been amuck, so I looked. I was surprised to discover that while amuck has been around since the mid-1600s, it has been supplanted by amok, round about 2010.

Diehard editors prefer amuck while more flexible editors prefer amok. And I have to confess that I thought they were a pair of word confusions which differed very slightly in meaning from each other. That amok was intended as going violently crazy and that amuck was more of a bewildered crazy.

So, I’m wrong, and either word is perfectly applicable, as long as you’re not writing historical fiction. And whichever you choose, be consistent throughout your writing.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Amok	Amuck
World Trade Center Collapsed Following the Sept. 11 Terrorist Attack, 16 September 2001, by Chief Photographer's Mate Eric J. Tilford is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — Terrorists, the amok who ran amuck in America on 9/11.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective; Adverb; Noun Plural for the noun: amok	Alternative spelling for amok.
Adjective: Possessed with or motivated by a murderous or violently uncontrollable frenzy Adverb: [In phrase run amok] Behave uncontrollably and disruptively Noun: [Among members of certain Southeast Asian cultures] An episode of sudden mass assault against people or objects usually by a single individual following a period of brooding that has traditionally been regarded as occurring especially in Malaysian culture but is now increasingly viewed as psychopathological behavior occurring worldwide in numerous countries and cultures
Examples:
Adjective: She’s out there amongst those amok troops. The soldier was completely amuck. Adverb: Those crazy stone-throwing anarchists are running amok. Her feelings seemed to be running amok. The soldiers ran amok after one of their senior officers was killed. The two dogs ran amok in a school playground. When chaos and human nature ran amuck, the fat controller sorted everything out. He had the strength of several men, and he ran amuck with it. Noun: “It is as well that the amok has no weapons other than his knife.” — John Holbrook Vance. Sjambak.
History of the Word:
Since 2010, amok is the preferred spelling.	Mid-17th century, via the Portuguese amouco, which is from the Malay amok meaning rushing in a frenzy. Early use was as a noun denoting a Malay in a homicidal frenzy.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Amok versus Amuck

“Amok vs amuck.” The Grammarist. n.d. Web. 25 October 2019. <https://grammarist.com/spelling/amok-amuck/>.

Apple Dictionary.com

Cambridge Dictionary: amok, amuck

Dictionary.com: amok, amuck

The Free Dictionary: amok

Merriam-Webster: amok

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Pinterest Photo Credits:

Page 138, Giant Octopus Attacks Ship by Edgar Etherington is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons and courtesy of J. Gibson’s Monsters of the Sea: Legendary and Authentic. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1887.