frenetic
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- frenetically adverb
- freneticness noun
- nonfrenetic adjective
- nonfrenetically adverb
Etymology
Origin of frenetic
First recorded in 1350–1400; frantic
Compare meaning
How does frenetic compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
The adjective frenetic is another way to say frenzied, frantic, or totally worked up. Kind of how you'd run around the kitchen madly trying to cook a last-minute dinner for 30 of your closest friends. Sometimes tinged with fear and often quite maniacal, frenetic comes from the Latin phreneticus, meaning “delirious.” The Latin word, in turn, came from a similarly spelled Greek word which, when translated literally, means “inflammation of the brain.” So it's no surprise that a frenetic person looks absolutely crazed and super anxious.
Vocabulary lists containing frenetic
100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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The Marrow Thieves
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Articles on Dangers of Technology
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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.
Chris Pratt and Charlie Day once again voice Mario and Luigi in this wearyingly frenetic exercise in big-screen fan service.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
The fable construct extends to a frenetic visual scheme of handmade art and animation that interrupts our absorption process as if we were kids needing stimulation between all the talking heads.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
“Three Studies of Lucian Freud” finds Bacon portraying his fellow artist in a way that has a frenetic film strip quality — he observes Freud from three different angles.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026
"It was a frenetic three of four days," Blagojevich added.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026
Hall had booked us at the Garuda Hotel, a friendly, funky establishment in the heart of Thamel, Kathmandu’s frenetic tourist district, on a narrow avenue choked with cycle rickshas and street hustlers.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
