猖獗 (chāng jué) — rampant, raging, unchecked (of negative phenomena such as crime, disease, rumors)

Definition

Examples

• 最近这个城市的犯罪活动非常猖獗。
  Zuì jìn zhè ge chéng shì de fàn zuì huó dòng fēi cháng chāng jué.
  Recently, criminal activity in this city has been very rampant.
• 病毒在人群当中快速猖獗，政府必须尽快采取措施。
  Bìng dú zài rén qún dāng zhōng kuài sù chāng jué, zhèng fǔ bì xū jǐn kuài cǎi qǔ cuò shī.
  The virus is spreading rampantly among the population, and the government must take measures as soon as possible.
• 谣言一旦猖獗起来，就很难控制。
  Yáo yán yí dàn chāng jué qǐ lái, jiù hěn nán kòng zhì.
  Once rumors run rampant, they are very hard to control.

Origin