- wild with anger, pain, worry, etc.; frenzied
- marked by frenzy; resulting from wild emotion
- Archaic insane
Origin of frantic
Middle English frantik, frenetik: see phrenetic
adjective
- An example of frantic is a mother who has just misplaced her child.
- An example of frantic is a desperate attempt to find your keys when you are already late.
The definition of frantic is being overcome or wild with emotion or need for action or something done with desperation or in a hurried manner.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"frantic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 21 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/FRANTIC>.
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frantic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21st, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/FRANTIC
frantic
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"frantic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 21 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/FRANTIC>.
APA Style
frantic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21st, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/FRANTIC
frantic
adjective
- Highly excited with strong emotion or frustration; frenzied: frantic with worry.
- Characterized by rapid and disordered or nervous activity: made a frantic last-minute search for the lost key.
- Archaic Mentally deranged.
Origin of frantic
Middle English frantik from Old French frenetique from Latin phrenēticus ; see frenetic .Related Forms:
- fran′ti·cal·ly fran′tic·ly
adverb
- fran′tic·ness
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"frantic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 21 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/FRANTIC>.
APA Style
frantic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21st, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/FRANTIC
Adjective
(comparative more frantic, superlative most frantic)
Origin
From Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin freneticus, Latin phreneticus or phreniticus, from Ancient Greek *φρενητικός (phrenetikos), correctly φρενιτικός (phrenitikos, “mad, suffering from inflammation of the brain”), from φρενῖτις (phrenitis, “inflammation of the brain”), from φρήν (phrēn, “the brain”).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"frantic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 21 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/FRANTIC>.
APA Style
frantic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21st, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/FRANTIC
Sentence Examples
- She controlled her breathing to keep her frantic emotions from consuming her.
- But all my frantic efforts were in vain.
- Alex called in a frantic voice as he ran into the barn.
- Instead of the welcoming smile, a frantic look crossed his face.
- I tried to avoid showing how frantic I was in front of my teacher.
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