run riot
C2 If people run riot, they behave in a way that is not controlled, running in all directions or being noisy or violent:
I dread them coming here because they let their kids run riot.
If your imagination runs riot, you have a lot of strange, exciting, or surprising thoughts:
My imagination was running riot, thinking of all the ways that I could spend the money.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Uncontrolled
- all hell breaks loose idiom
- amok
- amuck
- cut loose idiom
- extravagant
- intemperate
- like mad idiom
- mad
- maniacal
- out of hand idiom
- rampant
- raw
- spin
- spiral
- tearaway
- unbridled
- unchecked
- uncontrollable
- unmanageable
- wildfire
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Imagining and conceiving