frenzy
Americannoun
-
frenzies
plural
-
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
-
a burst of agitated, energetic action or activity.
Athens in the late 1960s was in the midst of a building frenzy.
-
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.
- Antonyms:
- sanity
verb (used with object)
noun
-
violent mental derangement
-
wild excitement or agitation; distraction
-
a bout of wild or agitated activity
a frenzy of preparations
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of frenzy
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English frenesie, from Old French, from Late Latin phrenēsis, from Late Greek, for Greek phrenîtis; see phrenitis
Explanation
In a frenzy, people go into a state of hysteria. Stay away from hungry sharks or kids at a 16th birthday party when the pizza arrives if you don't want to get caught up in a feeding frenzy. Frenzy is derived from the Latin word phreneticus meaning "delirious." If you're in a frenzy, you're certainly delirious. You can be in a frenzy because something made you mad, happy, or even just hungry — whatever makes you so crazy you're not thinking clearly. Frenzy is often used when talking about a group of people (or animals) who get worked up at the same time about the same thing, like sharks near tasty fish or teenagers near pizza.
Vocabulary lists containing frenzy
Walk Two Moons
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Mayhem! Chaos! Pandemonium!
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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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.
See Examples For:
A global frenzy around artificial intelligence has driven wild swings in the value of the country's biggest chipmakers.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Separately, the artificial-intelligence boom is fueling a frenzy of demand for computing infrastructure—pushing up prices for the necessary construction materials and hardware to build it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Many of these markets, particularly in the Sun Belt, saw a big run-up in home prices during the pandemic home-buying frenzy fueled by rock-bottom interest rates.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
The grouping of companies called the Magnificent Seven just did something that they haven’t since the introduction of ChatGPT sent the market into an artificial intelligence-sparked frenzy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Madison observed the buying frenzy and complained that unscrupulous speculators “are still exploring the interior & distant parts of the Union in order to take advantage of the holders.”
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Known as an “urchin” bait, the lure is dominating professional competitions, sparking a rush of imitators and provoking the sort of shelf-clearing buying frenzies you see for Pokemons and Beanie Babies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
At Creator Fest, Abarca commanded the stage, building up the energy of the crowd until hair whipped in frenzies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
The recent rally in silver is notable, with the white metal exhibiting significant volatility as it has attracted a wave of retail investors in a repeat of previous frenzies over the metal.
From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026
Harry Polkinghorne, a keen 19-year-old angler, described how he regularly sees bluefin tuna now, including large schools of the fish in frantic feeding frenzies.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2025
When it is necessary they can be prodded into frenzies of fear and hatred, but when left to themselves they are capable of forgetting for long periods that the war is happening.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Leveraged ETFs and their siblings, inverse funds, are risky, and their frenzied proliferation that kicked into overdrive 2025 may be overshadowing their big jump in closures this year.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
The frenzied scenes around this clammy building eventually abated, only for Faye Rogers to spark more bedlam with a rampant gold in the 200m individual medley SM10.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
The United States' frenzied rush to build out AI infrastructure has boosted exports of Mexican technology, complicating President Donald Trump's hand heading into trade negotiations.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
The most epic call of all time is a blistering, frenzied 68-second diatribe delivered in two different languages that namechecks three British prime ministers, a heavyweight champion, and, oddly, Princess Diana.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
The crowds on the highway and sloping hills are not so frenzied yet.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
Loya: —and then they’re just frenzying around their house.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2019
Still we must doubt the competency of the alleged authors of the excitement to perform the bewildering and frenzying acts ascribed to them.
From Witchcraft of New England Explained by Modern Spiritualism by Allen Putnam
He watched their splashing, their excitement, and their frenzying limbs with the awareness that this tousling around had no higher significance.
From Tokyo to Tijuana: Gabriele Departing America by Steven (Steven David Justin) Sills
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.
