Frantically

How to spell frantically

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce frantically

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does frantically mean?

1. adverbIn a wild, hurried, or panic-stricken way driven by fear or urgency.

Frantically in a sentence

• She searched frantically for the missing passport before the flight.

• The staff worked frantically to restore power before the morning shift.

Where does frantically come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This adverb is built on the adjective 'frantic', which reached English in the late 1300s through Old French 'frenetique', itself from the Latin 'phreneticus', meaning 'mad' or 'delirious'. The Latin word was borrowed from the Greek 'phrenitis', the name for an inflammation of the brain thought to cause raving and delirium, ultimately from 'phren', meaning 'mind' or 'midriff' (the ancients located thought near the diaphragm). Over time the medical sense of brain fever softened into the everyday idea of being wildly agitated or hurried. The doublet 'frenetic' kept a spelling closer to the French and Greek, while 'frantic' drifted phonetically, which is why the two relatives now look so different. The spelling trap here is the ending: 'frantic' plus '-al' plus '-ly' gives a double 'l' in '-ically', not a single one.

How the word is built

• frantic (from frenetic: frenzied)
• -al (adjective)
• -ly (adverb suffix)