frenetic means frenzied and frantic, harried; having extreme enthusiasm or energy.
frenetic is pronounced /fɹəˈnɛt.ɪk/.
Why “frenetic” is a great word
Characterized by a frantic, wildly excited, and often chaotic intensity of activity or emotion. From Middle English *frenetik*, from Old French *frenetike*, from Latin *phreneticus*, from Ancient Greek φρενητικός (*phrenētikós*, "delirious"), from φρενῖτις (*phrenîtis*, "inflammation of the mind, delirium"), from φρήν (*phrḗn*, "mind"), first recorded in English 1350–1400. Unlike "frantic," which implies a desperate, fear-driven distress, or "energetic," which suggests wholesome vigor, "frenetic" carries the clinical shadow of its origin: a mind inflamed, burning with a self-perpetuating, purposeless haste. It is the flickering chaos of a stock exchange floor, the convulsive scrolling of a mind glutted on bad news, or the brittle, overcaffeinated laughter at a party no one wanted to attend—a velocity that consumes itself, the spectacle of motion mistaken for meaning.
Etymology
From Middle English frenetik (also frentik, frentyk, frantike > modern English frantic), from Old French frenetike, from Latin phreneticus, from Ancient Greek φρενητικός (phrenētikós, “delirious”), from φρενῖτις (phrenîtis, “delirium”), from φρήν (phrḗn, “mind”). Doublet of frantic and phrenitic.
Etymologically, initial stress would be expected (compare the syncopic form phrentic); the modern pronunciation with stress on the second syllable is due to the influence of other words ending in -etic such as phonetic and sympathetic.
adj
- Frenzied and frantic, harried; having extreme enthusiasm or energy.“After a week of working at a frenetic pace, she was ready for Saturday.”
- Mentally deranged, insane.
- Characterised by manifestations of delirium or madness.
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