frantic
Americanadjective
-
desperate or wild with excitement, passion, fear, pain, etc.; frenzied.
- Synonyms:
- distraught, disturbed, agitated, overwrought
-
Archaic. insane; mad.
adjective
-
distracted with fear, pain, joy, etc
-
marked by or showing frenzy
frantic efforts
-
archaic insane
Other Word Forms
- frantically adverb
- franticness noun
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” ( phrenitis ( def. ) ); frenzy, -tic
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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.
So in the frantic hours before officers took her parents away to immigration detention, her mom turned to their pastor and his wife.
From Salon • Mar. 24, 2026
Twice in the last 50 years, crises in the Mideast, one of them centered in Iran, have turned Americans into frantic hunter-gatherers for another necessity: fuel for their gas tanks.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
Much of “Inside Out 2” was made in a frantic all-hands crunch because the filmmakers didn’t finalize their story until the fall before its June 2024 release.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026
On Dubai's artificial island, empty beaches stand in stark contrast to frantic hotel lobbies, where stranded tourists have taken shelter as they wait for a way home.
From Barron's • Mar. 2, 2026
The air scorched my lungs, reducing my breath to frantic wheezing.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
