hectic
Americanadjective
adjective
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characterized by extreme activity or excitement
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associated with, peculiar to, or symptomatic of tuberculosis (esp in the phrases hectic fever, hectic flush )
noun
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a hectic fever or flush
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rare a person who is consumptive or who experiences a hectic fever or flush
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of hectic
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin hecticus, from Greek hektikós “habitual, consumptive,” adjective derivative of héxis “possession, state, habit,” equivalent to hech- (base of échein “to have, hold, keep”) + -sis -sis; replacing Middle English etyk, from Middle French
Explanation
Things that are hectic tend to be happen quickly and all at once — that's why a hectic day makes people nervous. Think about a calm, beautiful island with the sun shining and nothing to do but read a book. That kind of peacefulness is the opposite of hectic. When things get hectic, people sometimes say things are getting crazy or bananas: events are happening too fast for us to keep up, so we tend to get agitated or even angry. Because there's so much work to do, being a student is often a hectic job.
Vocabulary lists containing hectic
Touching Spirit Bear
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Chadwick Boseman (1976–2020) Tribute List
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Forged by Fire
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dairy farmer Mervyn Gordon sums it up in one word: "Hectic".
From BBC • Feb. 26, 2026
Hectic work schedules left us little time to discuss anything aside from home improvement and the boys’ activities.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 10, 2025
Hectic as it all is, his namesake would be thrilled.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 9, 2024
Hectic diplomacy is under way to prevent war; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz travels to Kyiv on Monday and then to Moscow on Tuesday for talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin.
From Reuters • Feb. 14, 2022
And then one of Gus’s brothers-in-law brought up a boom box and they played this song Gus had picked out—a sad and quiet song by The Hectic Glow called “The New Partner.”
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
