frenzy
Americannoun
-
frenzies
plural
-
a state of extreme mental agitation or wild excitement.
There's something big businesses love about working their customers into a frenzy of anticipation.
- Antonyms:
- calm
-
a burst of agitated, energetic action or activity.
Athens in the late 1960s was in the midst of a building frenzy.
-
a fit or spell of mental derangement; a paroxysm characteristic of or resulting from a mania.
He is subject to these frenzies several times a year.
- Antonyms:
- sanity
verb (used with object)
noun
-
violent mental derangement
-
wild excitement or agitation; distraction
-
a bout of wild or agitated activity
a frenzy of preparations
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of frenzy
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English frenesie, from Old French, from Late Latin phrenēsis, from Late Greek, for Greek phrenîtis; see phrenitis
Explanation
In a frenzy, people go into a state of hysteria. Stay away from hungry sharks or kids at a 16th birthday party when the pizza arrives if you don't want to get caught up in a feeding frenzy. Frenzy is derived from the Latin word phreneticus meaning "delirious." If you're in a frenzy, you're certainly delirious. You can be in a frenzy because something made you mad, happy, or even just hungry — whatever makes you so crazy you're not thinking clearly. Frenzy is often used when talking about a group of people (or animals) who get worked up at the same time about the same thing, like sharks near tasty fish or teenagers near pizza.
Vocabulary lists containing frenzy
Walk Two Moons
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Mayhem! Chaos! Pandemonium!
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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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.
See Examples For:
Many investors were also swept up in the speculative frenzy that drove gold to fresh record highs last year and at the start of 2026, he noted.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
Since his arrival a year ago at the helm of Chanel, Matthieu Blazy has created a buzz and sales frenzy at the classic French label, with customers queueing outside some boutiques for his latest collections.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
It was a mantra coined by the tech giant Meta and used until 2012, which came to define the bad old days of social media running riot in a feeding frenzy of user data.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
As the years passed, the frenzy around Diana had mellowed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
As he had already admitted, Sticky often got mixed up when he was excited, and in this frenzy of mysteries and revelations, he could hardly think straight.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
The recent rally in silver is notable, with the white metal exhibiting significant volatility as it has attracted a wave of retail investors in a repeat of previous frenzies over the metal.
From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026
Defenses that have been built to stop the resurgent run game sometimes look ill-prepared for pass-happy frenzies in crunchtime.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025
Tasmanian devils have “noisy, dramatic feeding frenzies filled with growls and screeches” when they gather around a carcass, zoo officials said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2025
Even our recent market volatility — from meme stock frenzies to cryptocurrency bubbles — reflects the same pattern.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2025
When it is necessary they can be prodded into frenzies of fear and hatred, but when left to themselves they are capable of forgetting for long periods that the war is happening.
From "1984" by George Orwell
He’s worried that the frenzied online discourse will only make the problem worse.
From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2026
“I was frightened and frenzied, which is what con artists use to get our hard-earned cash.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
But in the meantime, many feel strengthening oversight overall is vital if development continues at its same, frenzied pace.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Leveraged ETFs and their siblings, inverse funds, are risky, and their frenzied proliferation that kicked into overdrive 2025 may be overshadowing their big jump in closures this year.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
When I think clap, my hands obey, and the frenzied claps echo through the forest.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
Loya: —and then they’re just frenzying around their house.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2019
Still we must doubt the competency of the alleged authors of the excitement to perform the bewildering and frenzying acts ascribed to them.
From Witchcraft of New England Explained by Modern Spiritualism by Allen Putnam
He watched their splashing, their excitement, and their frenzying limbs with the awareness that this tousling around had no higher significance.
From Tokyo to Tijuana: Gabriele Departing America by Steven (Steven David Justin) Sills
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.
