definitions

frantic

[ fran-tik ]
/ ˈfræn tɪk /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR frantic ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

desperate or wild with excitement, passion, fear, pain, etc.; frenzied.
Archaic. insane; mad.

RELATED CONTENT

Real Fans Only: The Meaning Behind Obsessive FandomExtreme passion lies at the heart of all fans. Discover how fan sites, message boards,feeds, and those print help fans share the love.
READ MORE
English Expressions From India That We Should All Be UsingIndia is a top contender for using English in the most creative ways. We love these Indian English expressions so much, we have one question for the country: Can we use them, too?
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

desperately, excitedly, madly, wildly, uncontrollably, berserk, crazily, helter-skelter, wild, agitatedly, amok, franticly, hectically, hysterically

Nearby words

franks, franks peak, franky, frannie, franseria, frantic, franticly, franz, franz ferdinand, franz josef, franz josef i

Origin of frantic

1325–75; Middle English frantik, frenetik < Old French frenetique < Latin phrenēticus delirious < Greek phrenētikós. See frenzy, -tic

Related forms

fran·ti·cal·ly, fran·tic·ly, adverbfran·tic·ness, noun

Can be confused

fanatic frantic frenetic (see synonym study at fanatic)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for frantically

British Dictionary definitions for frantically

frantic

/ (ˈfræntɪk) /

adjective

distracted with fear, pain, joy, etc
marked by or showing frenzyfrantic efforts
archaic insane

Derived Forms

frantically or franticly, adverbfranticness, noun

Word Origin for frantic

C14: from Old French frenetique, from Latin phrenēticus mad, frenetic
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012