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:
Tech firms took a hammering on Tuesday amid concerns about China's progress in developing AI chips and following comments by Broadcom's boss likening the AI buying frenzy to gambling.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
The pandemic home-buying frenzy really helped them, he said: They received $80,000 over the asking price for their previous home, which they rolled into the new home.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Speaking to the BBC at the film's BFI London Film Festival premiere, lead star Olivia Colman admitted she was taken aback by the online frenzy surrounding the film.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
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
For the first days of my imprisonment, I stayed in a frenzy of anxiety about Father, Betsie, Willem, Pickwick.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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
Those full-blown viral frenzies help movies explode into movements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 22, 2025
Editor Eleanor Infante entrusts the movie’s energy to montages: fashion shoots, photo booths, feeding frenzies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
Even our recent market volatility — from meme stock frenzies to cryptocurrency bubbles — reflects the same pattern.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2025
The proles, normally apathetic about the war, were being lashed into one of their periodical frenzies of patriotism.
From "1984" by George Orwell
A trek to the site of the deadliest avalanche in California history reveals a surprisingly tranquil spot, a stark contrast to the frenzied 15 minutes that determined who survived.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
He’s worried that the frenzied online discourse will only make the problem worse.
From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2026
Others say the company's super-cheap products and frenzied online marketing encourage a culture of overconsumption to the detriment of the environment.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
Fourteen publishers bid for the U.S. rights, and Macmillan’s Minotaur Books imprint won the frenzied auction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Hanako was happy to do this, because the grownups were frenzied as they tore through the baggage.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
Loya: —and then they’re just frenzying around their house.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2019
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
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
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
