phrenetic

[ fri-net-ik ]
See synonyms for phrenetic on Thesaurus.com
adjectiveAlso phre·net·i·cal.
  1. filled with extreme excitement; fanatic; frenzied.

noun
  1. a phrenetic person.

Origin of phrenetic

1
1325–75; <Latin phrenēticus<Late Greek phrenētikós,Greek phrenītikós frenzied (see phrenitis, -ic); replacing Middle English frenetike<Anglo-French <Latin as above; cf. frenetic

Other words from phrenetic

  • phre·net·i·cal·ly, adverb
  • phre·net·ic·ness, noun
  • non·phre·net·ic, adjective
  • non·phre·net·i·cal·ly, adverb
  • sem·i·phre·net·ic, adjective

Words Nearby phrenetic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use phrenetic in a sentence

  • This was very new; it was also very strange what a fascination he found in his phrenetic exercises.

    Little Novels of Italy | Maurice Henry Hewlett
  • Yet here I sit, as yet unimmolated on the altar of phrenetic vengeance.

    Hard Cash | Charles Reade
  • He is a foolish physician that cannot bear the words of a phrenetic or delirant patient.

  • Indeed, this word phrenetic or maniac is no reproach; it is identical with mantic --prophetic.

    Christianity and Greek Philosophy | Benjamin Franklin Cocker

British Dictionary definitions for phrenetic

phrenetic

/ (frɪˈnɛtɪk) /


adjective
  1. an obsolete spelling of frenetic

Derived forms of phrenetic

  • phrenetically, adverb
  • phreneticness, noun

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