frantically

[ fran-tik-lee ]

adverb

1. in a desperate, wild, or frenzied way, out of extreme excitement, pain, fear, etc.:

   All this time I was searching frantically in the trash can for my missing keys until, just when I thought all was lost, my finger touched something that jingled.

Word History and Origins

Origin of frantically¹

frantic ( def ) + -ally ( def )

Example Sentences

The three adults repeatedly shouted my name as they frantically searched the house, until my father looked out the front window.

From Washington Post

Instead, she set about frantically calling anywhere and everywhere that might be able to offer child care, even just for a week or two.

From Vox

The driver frantically asked if I knew where he could get service.

From Outside Online

Slack’s popular corporate messaging app is getting several new updates to help the wave of companies frantically shifting to accommodate employees now working from home.

From Fortune

Trix is introduced here for the first time, and watching Emily frantically search for all of her mother-in-law’s old gifts so that she can display them properly is so much fun that it makes sense Trix would become a favorite recurring guest.

From Vox

From doorways that lined a long corridor, people emerged at a run and began searching frantically.

From The Daily Beast

Staffers were frantically compiling information from eyewitnesses and Japanese sources.

From The Daily Beast

The mother continues to row frantically, but the boat begins to drift slowly downstream.

From The Daily Beast

The others disappeared into the school, frantically hustling to try to make deals.

From The Daily Beast

Backward, backward, backward Ghana ran, and frantically…toward its own endangered goal.

From The Daily Beast

They looked down at Grandfather Mole, who was still scurrying frantically about the garden.

From Project Gutenberg

Again Wilkins shouted at the top of his voice, and waved his arms more frantically than before.

From Project Gutenberg

They frantically waved their hats, ceased firing, and greeted their erstwhile enemies as comrades.

From Project Gutenberg

Fumbling in his haste, he produced a pocket communicator, stabbed frantically at the dial and spoke urgently into it.

From Project Gutenberg

The others called, too, until we were all shouting frantically for Tilly.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• desperately
• excitedly
• madly
• uncontrollably
• wildly