frenetic
/frəˈnɛtɪk
/adjective
Fast and energetic in a rather wild and uncontrolled way: a frenetic pace of activity...
- Our most enduring achievements have resulted not from frenetic activity, but rather from quiet meditation.
- The game had started at a frenetic pace as both sides sought to stamp their authority on the match.
- He talks quickly and moves through life fast, but his frenetic ways have hurt him on the field.
Synonyms
frantic, wild, frenzied, hectic, fraught, feverish, fevered, mad, manic, hyperactive, energetic, intense, fast and furious, turbulent, tumultuous, confused, confusing;
exciting, excited
British informal swivel-eyed
Derivatives
frenetically
/ adverb ...- But in their enthusiasm to get their hands on the custard, the company did not acquire the formula for the fizzy drink, which was made by adding a sherbet-like powder to cold water and stirring frenetically while the drink foamed.
- From the very second the air-conditioned stores and shopping malls open, you are carried along with the swirl of bargain-hunting tourists in a controlled, but frenetically intense, buying frenzy.
- Taking our cue from Boyracer's lengthy discography, we can expect frenetically paced, fuzzed-out pop songs that even your punk rock friend will like.
freneticism
- The calmness of the music, too, contrasts with the snapshots of city life, making the potential freneticism of the image seem muted by the accompanying sounds.
- This month begins my annual downhill slide into neurotic freneticism.
- The Adagio movement consists of a similar formula, although the bittersweet writing in the first half is broken by an extended solo cadenza that combines sad feelings with dance-like freneticism.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'insane'): from Old French frenetique, via Latin from Greek phrenitikos, from phrenitis 'delirium', from phrēn 'mind'. Compare with frantic.
This comes via French and Latin from Greek phrenitikos, from phrenitis ‘delirium’, and was initially used to mean ‘insane’. Originally frantic (Late Middle English) was merely an alternative form of the word. Frenzy (Middle English) is from the same root.