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frantic

adj
/ˈfɹæn.tɪk/

Etymology

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.

  1. derived from phreneticus
  2. derived from frenetique
  3. derived from frantike

Definitions

  1. Insane, mentally unstable.

    • Master have mercy on my sonne, for he is franticke: and ys sore vexed.
    • 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. A person who is insane or mentally unstable, madman.

      • 1595, George Peele, The Old Wives’ Tale, The Malone Society Reprints, 1908, lines 3-5, How nowe fellowe Franticke, what all a mort? Doth this sadnes become thy madnes?
      • […] 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 […]

The neighborhood

Derived

frantically, franticity, franticly, franticness, semifrantic

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at frantic. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01frantic02insane03sane04mental05frenetic

A definitional loop anchored at frantic. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

5 hops · closes at frantic

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA