frantic
/ˈfɹæn.tɪk/
frantic adjective: insane, mentally unstable.
Adjective
frantic (comparative more frantic, superlative most frantic)
- Insane, mentally unstable.
- Master have mercy on my sonne, for he is franticke: and ys sore vexed.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew
- If with myself I hold intelligence,
Or have acquaintance with mine own desires;
If that I do not dream, or be not frantic—
As I do trust I am not—then, dear uncle,
Never so much as in a thought unborn
Did I offend your Highness.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- In a state of panic, worry, frenzy, or rush.
- They returned the missing child to his frantic mother.
- Sir George bore the annoyances of the night as a very vain man does totally unaccustomed to mortification. He was frantic with passion; he longed to kill somebody, but he did not know who.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Assignation”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 247
- Extremely energetic.
- frantic music
- At the end of a frantic first 45 minutes, there was still time for Charlie Adam to strike the bar from 20 yards before referee Atkinson departed to a deafening chorus of jeering from Everton's fans.2011 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0 - 2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport
Noun
frantic (plural frantics)
- A person who is insane or mentally unstable, madman.
- How nowe fellowe Franticke, what all a mort? Doth this sadnes become thy madnes?1595, George Peele, The Old Wives’ Tale, The Malone Society Reprints, 1908, lines 3-5
- […] who but senseless Franticks would have thoughts so poor? My Reason forsakes the government of this weak Frame, and I am fall’n into disorder […]1657, Aston Cockayne, The Obstinate Lady, London: Isaac Pridmore, act V, scene 3, page 56
frantic meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
frantic in Hindi
- frantic
- उत्तेजित uttejit, पागल pāgal
frantic in Tamil
- கட்டு மீறிய, வெறி கொண்ட
frantic in Marathi
- उन्मत्त
frantic in Urdu
- frantic, possessed, demonic
- پاگل pāgal
More languagesFewer languages
- frantic in Malayalam
- ഭ്രാന്തമായ, ഭ്രാന്തചിത്തമായ, ഉന്മത്തമായ, ഇളകിവശായ
- frantic in Kannada
- ಭಾವಾವೇಶಗೊಂಡ, ಅತಿಯಾಗಿ ಉದ್ರೇಕಗೊಂಡ, ಹತೋಟಿಮೀರಿದ, ಅಧೀನ ತಪ್ಪಿದ
- frantic in Sanskrit
- उन्मत्त únmatta
- frantic in Nepali
- उन्मत्त
Examples of frantic in a sentence
- The crew sent a frantic SOS as they realised the scale of the disaster.
- She desperately yelled at her young daughter, frantic to make her realize what she had done.
- I knocked on a few random editor's doors, but was met by frantic stares and hurried brushoffs.
Synonyms of frantic
Forms of frantic
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more frantic |
| superlative | most frantic |
| alternative form (obsolete) | frantick |
| alternative form (archaic) | phrantic |
| alternative form (obsolete) | phrantick |
| Noun | |
| plural | frantics |
Origin of frantic
From Middle English frantike, frentik, variant of frenetik, from Old French frenetique, from Late Latin phreneticus, alteration of phreniticus, from φρενιτικός (phrenitikós, “mad, suffering from inflammation of the brain”), from φρενῖτις (phrenîtis, “inflammation of the brain”), from φρήν (phrḗn, “the brain”). Doublet of frenetic and phrenitic.
Words formed from frantic
Words that rhyme with frantic
- romantic
- antic
- atlantic
- gigantic
- semantic
- Willimantic
- panromantic
- pedantic
- transromantic
- mantic
- marantic
- sycophantic
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about frantic
- What does frantic mean?
- Frantic means insane, mentally unstable.
- What is frantic in Hindi?
- Frantic in Hindi is उत्तेजित (uttejit), पागल (pāgal). See Frantic meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is frantic?
- Frantic can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce frantic?
- Frantic is pronounced /ˈfɹæn.tɪk/.
Words near frantic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: frantic (page history and authors); उत्तेजित (Hindi) (page history and authors); frantic (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); frantic (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); پاگل (Urdu) (page history and authors); frantic (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); frantic (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); उन्मत्त (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); frantic (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-frantic.ogg.
Cite this entry: “frantic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/frantic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.