frenzy

[fren-zee]

noun

plural

frenzies 

1. a state of extreme mental agitation or wild excitement.

   There's something big businesses love about working their customers into a frenzy of anticipation.

   Antonyms: calm

2. a burst of agitated, energetic action or activity.

   Athens in the late 1960s was in the midst of a building frenzy.

3. a fit or spell of mental derangement; a paroxysm characteristic of or resulting from a mania.

   He is subject to these frenzies several times a year.

   Synonyms: raving, fury, rage, aberration, lunacy, insanity, madness
   Antonyms: sanity

verb (used with object)

frenzied, frenzying 

1. to drive into a frenzy; make frantic.

   She was frenzied by fear when she smelled the smoke.

frenzy

/ ˈfrɛnzɪ /

noun

1. violent mental derangement

2. wild excitement or agitation; distraction

3. a bout of wild or agitated activity

   a frenzy of preparations

verb

1. (tr) to make frantic; drive into a frenzy

Other Word Forms

• frenzily adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of frenzy¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English frenesie, from Old French, from Late Latin phrenēsis, from Late Greek, for Greek phrenîtis; phrenitis

Word History and Origins

Origin of frenzy¹

C14: from Old French frenesie , from Late Latin phrēnēsis madness, delirium, from Late Greek, ultimately from Greek phrēn mind; compare _frenetic

Example Sentences

Burry also started writing about parallels between today’s AI frenzy and the excesses of the dot-com bubble on social media and in a new Substack newsletter.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Fast-casual chain Shake Shack’s new Big Shack burger, an unmistakable riff on the Big Mac, is sending the internet into a frenzy.

Read more on MarketWatch

U.S. electricity demand is rising across the country, partly thanks to the frenzy over artificial intelligence, after remaining flat for decades.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For as tender and quietly introspective as Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” eventually becomes, the Norwegian writer-director’s latest film opens in a frenzy.

Read more on Salon

Australia were banking on the 35-year-old to emulate his exploits in the second innings and he whipped the sold-out Perth Stadium crowd into a frenzy when he removed Zak Crawley in his first over.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• burst 
• craze 
• excitement 
• fever 
• free-for-all 
• furor 
• fury 
• hysteria 
• madness 
• mania 
• outburst 
• passion 
• rage 
• turmoil