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
-
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.
One week before the closing on a 5,300-square-foot condominium in New York City’s Upper East Side, Beth Benalloul, a broker at the Corcoran Group, got a frantic call from the buyer’s agent.
Mark Ratcliffe, 67, entered the water at Withernsea in a frantic attempt to try to save Sarah Keeling, 45, and Grace Keeling, 15, on Friday.
From BBC
Top Iranian officials issued frantic statements in response, and the press now has reason to pay more attention to the protests.
Georgia got one snap from scrimmage and had some frantic fun with it, with players making nine lateral tosses like a fledgling rugby squad before quarterback Gunner Stockton was tackled to end the game.
From Los Angeles Times
Where to start making sense of this chaotic, frantic and memorable Boxing Day match?
From BBC
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.
