hectic
Americanadjective
adjective
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characterized by extreme activity or excitement
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associated with, peculiar to, or symptomatic of tuberculosis (esp in the phrases hectic fever, hectic flush )
noun
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a hectic fever or flush
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rare a person who is consumptive or who experiences a hectic fever or flush
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hectic
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin hecticus, from Greek hektikós “habitual, consumptive,” adjective derivative of héxis “possession, state, habit,” equivalent to hech- (base of échein “to have, hold, keep”) + -sis -sis; replacing Middle English etyk, from Middle French
Explanation
Things that are hectic tend to be happen quickly and all at once — that's why a hectic day makes people nervous. Think about a calm, beautiful island with the sun shining and nothing to do but read a book. That kind of peacefulness is the opposite of hectic. When things get hectic, people sometimes say things are getting crazy or bananas: events are happening too fast for us to keep up, so we tend to get agitated or even angry. Because there's so much work to do, being a student is often a hectic job.
Vocabulary lists containing hectic
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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.
He kept this promise until the day he died in 1979, despite a hectic schedule and major pastoral responsibilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Connie, 63, an NHS hospital discharge lead, is known as "the cake lady" and uses baking as a way to unwind after a hectic day.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
“I did that yesterday, when I was a kid,” he sings over hectic guitar strums, and his trilling digital falsetto, warped to maximize irritation, makes clear that those days are far behind him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The departure of Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers, coupled with Amadou Onana's serious knee injury which rules him out until next year, has led to a hectic summer.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
There then followed a hectic jurisdictional dispute between these overlords that was decided in General Dreedle’s favor by ex-P.F.C.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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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.
