Adjacent Words

berserk definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: frenzied as if possessed by a demon; "the soldier was completely amuck"; "berserk with grief"; "a berserk worker smashing windows" [syn: amuck, amok, berserk, demoniac, demoniacal, possessed] n
1: one of the ancient Norse warriors legendary for working themselves into a frenzy before a battle and fighting with reckless savagery and insane fury [syn: berserker, berserk]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun or berserker Etymology: Old Norse berserkr, probably from ber- bear + serkr shirt Date: 1818 1. an ancient Scandinavian warrior frenzied in battle and held to be invulnerable 2. one whose actions are recklessly defiant II. adjective Date: 1851 frenzied, crazed — usually used in the phrase go berserk <sinister ravings of an imagination gone berserk — John Gruen> • berserk adverb • berserkly adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. (esp. in go berserk) wild, frenzied; in a violent rage. --n. (also berserker) an ancient Norse warrior who fought with a wild frenzy. Etymology: Icel. berserkr (n.) prob. f. bern- BEAR(2) + serkr coat

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Berserk Ber"serk, Berserker Ber"serk*er, n. [Icel. berserkr.] 1. (Scand. Myth.) One of a class of legendary heroes, who fought frenzied by intoxicating liquors, and naked, regardless of wounds. --Longfellow. 2. One who fights as if frenzied, like a Berserker.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. Berserk means crazy and out of control. He tossed back his head in a howl of berserk laughter. = mad ADJ 2. If someone or something goes berserk, they lose control of themselves and become very angry or violent. When I saw him I went berserk. = go mad PHRASE: V inflects

Moby Thesaurus

Dionysiac, abandoned, amok, bacchic, bellowing, carried away, corybantic, crazed, delirious, demoniac, desperate, distracted, ecstatic, enraptured, feral, ferocious, fierce, frantic, frenetic, frenzied, fulminating, furious, haggard, hog-wild, howling, hysterical, in a transport, in hysterics, intoxicated, like one possessed, mad, madding, maenadic, maniac, maniacal, orgasmic, orgiastic, possessed, rabid, raging, ramping, ranting, raving, raving mad, ravished, roaring, running mad, running wild, stark-raving mad, storming, transported, uncontrollable, violent, wild, wild-eyed, wild-looking