frantic

[ fran-tik ]

/ ˈfræn tɪk /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR frantic ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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

Archaic. insane; mad.

Words nearby frantic

frankpledge, franks peak, franky, frannie, franseria, frantic, franz, franz ferdinand, franz josef, franz josef i, franz josef land

Origin of frantic

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

SYNONYMS FOR frantic

1 overwrought, agitated, frenzied, distraught.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR frantic ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM frantic

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

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH frantic

fanatic frantic frenetic (see synonym study at fanatic)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for frantically

Staffers were frantically compiling information from eyewitnesses and Japanese sources.
The Intern Who Birthed The KAL007 Conspiracy Theories|Tim Mak|September 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The others disappeared into the school, frantically hustling to try to make deals.
The Bizarro World Of Iowa’s GOP Convention|Ben Jacobs|June 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Backward, backward, backward Ghana ran, and frantically…toward its own endangered goal.
Stars and Stripes 2, Black Stars 1: Team USA Takes a Win From Ghana|Tunku Varadarajan|June 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He winks, smacks his lips and frantically drains the go-cup.
The Stacks: The Neville Brothers Stake Their Claim as Bards of the Bayou|John Ed Bradley|April 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The mother of five frantically jumps from one argument to the next as if playing a high stakes game of Catchphrase.
Meet the Anti-Pot Activists|Abby Haglage|January 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Frantically, she looked around for something to hold it shut.
The Saracen: The Holy War|Robert Shea
Should there be a bonfire in the quad, it is he who comes out and frantically attempts to put it out.
Oxford|Frederick Douglas How
He frantically placed himself at the mercy of remarkable fates if his tale were not true.
The Open Boat and Other Stories|Stephen Crane
Its alarm cry is frantically answered by the two strange, invisible bird voices that come from the top of the tower!
Our Vanishing Wild Life|William T. Hornaday
Carl heaved at the drunken man's arm, frantically in the darkness.
Martyr|Alan Edward Nourse

British Dictionary definitions for frantically

frantic

/ (ˈfræntɪk) /

adjective

distracted with fear, pain, joy, etc

marked by or showing frenzyfrantic efforts

archaic insane

Derived forms of frantic

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

frantic

adjective

Words related to frantic

Words nearby frantic

Origin of frantic

SYNONYMS FOR frantic

OTHER WORDS FROM frantic

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH frantic

Examples from the Web for frantically

British Dictionary definitions for frantically

adjective

Derived forms of frantic

Word Origin for frantic