frantic
Americanadjective
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desperate or wild with excitement, passion, fear, pain, etc.; frenzied.
- Synonyms:
- distraught, disturbed, agitated, overwrought
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Archaic. insane; mad.
adjective
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distracted with fear, pain, joy, etc
-
marked by or showing frenzy
frantic efforts
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archaic insane
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of frantic
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English frantik, frenetik, phrentique (the spelling with a appears in the 14th century but is unexplained), from Old French frenetique ( French frénétique ), from Latin phrenēticus, phrenīticus “mad, delirious,” from Greek phrenētikós, phrenītikós “suffering from inflammation of the brain or delerium” ( see phrenitis ( def. )); see frenzy, -tic
Compare meaning
How does frantic compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
When a mother loses her child, she's frantic. She's a crazed sort of agitated and goes on a frantic search for her child. A scene is frantic if there's lots of action with little order. Frantic is related to frenzy and both were originally ways to describe mental illness. Hundreds of years ago, if you were frantic, you were stark raving mad. Today, frantic implies fast wild movements or a desperate attempt to do something. On Christmas Eve, the scene at the mall was frantic with shoppers desperately searching for their last few gifts. And a wild party would only be called frantic if the police were called and everyone rushed to get away.
Vocabulary lists containing frantic
Unit 1: Telling Details
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"The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury
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This Week in Words: September 29 - October 5, 2018
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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.
Having lived long in an unusual place, Ruth provides a calm counterpoint to the frantic Tom.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 9, 2026
Jude Bellingham scored twice in a frantic game, with England surviving a Mexico fightback at the Azteca Stadium to progress to the quarter-finals.
From BBC • Jul. 7, 2026
Not everyone heeds the finality of the message, however, as frantic family and friends refuse to give up on loved ones trapped under the debris.
From Barron's • Jul. 1, 2026
Others that begin well and then fall over: Mr. David does a fairly dead-on impersonation of Joseph McCarthy, but the sketch has nowhere else to go and so turns frantic.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026
Duane glanced nervously in the direction of the Cold, Cold Ocean and saw something that made him grow frantic with fear.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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.
