frenzy

[fren-zee]

See more synonyms for frenzy on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural fren·zies.

extreme mental agitation; wild excitement or derangement.
a fit or spell of violent mental excitement; a paroxysm characteristic of or resulting from a mania: He is subject to these frenzies several times a year.

verb (used with object), fren·zied, fren·zy·ing.

to drive to frenzy; make frantic: She was frenzied by fear when she smelled the smoke.

Origin of frenzy

1300–50; Middle English frenesie < Old French < Late Latin phrenēsis < Late Greek, for Greek phrenîtis; see phrenitis

Related formsfren·zi·ly, adverb

Synonyms for frenzy

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2. madness, insanity, lunacy, aberration; rage, fury, raving.

Antonyms for frenzy

1. calm. 2. sanity.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for frenzy

turmoil, fever, madness, burst, fury, rage, excitement, mania, passion, free-for-all, furor, outburst, craze, hysteria, agitation, ruction, seizure, conniption, convulsion, transport

Examples from the Web for frenzy

Contemporary Examples of frenzy

I am scared that, like me, they will arrive and see a frenzy of disorganization, fear and, most frightening, quarantine.
Quarantine Turns Ebola Heroes Into Pariahs
Russell Saunders
October 28, 2014
The media goes into a frenzy when egregious examples of bad mothers occur, like Susan Smith or Casey Anthony.
Postpartum Stigma: Why My Patient Committed Suicide
Jean Kim
August 5, 2014
Republicans have been in a frenzy since realizing that the IRS was missing two years of Lerner emails.
House Republicans Take on John Koskinen: Scenes From an IRS Sideshow
Tim Mak
June 24, 2014
Arriving at the Melody Ballroom, the atmosphere was a frenzy of joy, jubilation and holy bedlam.
The Battle for LGBT Equality Isn’t Over Yet
Gene Robinson
May 25, 2014
In a frenzy of activity, he set to work filling the wall of his studio.
Matisse: Innovator Until the End
Nico Hines
April 16, 2014

Historical Examples of frenzy

Their walk was a delight to him, their roaring gallop a frenzy of eager sensation.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
Nor, in the blindness of his frenzy, had he seen when she had gone nor whither she went.
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
Howard Pyle
Have a care, Jinkins, ere you provoke a desperate man to frenzy!
Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit
Charles Dickens
Clotilde, in a frenzy of grief, raised her arm, as if to drive her out of the room.
Doctor Pascal
Emile Zola
They could do neither now, for the fear that possessed them at sight of Israel's frenzy.
The Scapegoat
Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for frenzy

frenzy

noun plural -zies

violent mental derangement
wild excitement or agitation; distraction
a bout of wild or agitated activitya frenzy of preparations

verb -zies, -zying or -zied

(tr) to make frantic; drive into a frenzy

Word Origin for frenzy

C14: from Old French frenesie, from Late Latin phrēnēsis madness, delirium, from Late Greek, ultimately from Greek phrēn mind; compare 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

Word Origin and History for frenzy

mid-14c., "delirium, insanity," from Old French frenesie, from Medieval Latin phrenesia, from phrenesis, back-formation from Latin phreneticus "delirious" (see frenetic). Meaning "excited state of mind" is from c.1400.