1
: emotionally out of control
2
: marked by fast and nervous, disordered, or anxiety-driven activity
made a frantic search for the lost child
frantic cries for help
3
archaic
: mentally unsound
Examples of frantic in a Sentence
The girl was frantic with fear.
They made a frantic search for the missing child.
They were making frantic preparations for the party.
a frantic attempt to finish on schedule
Recent Examples on the Web
Hearing this, a frantic and audibly panicked Cindy Anthony placed the now infamous call to the police.
—
Aja Romano, Vox, 4 Mar. 2025
Those pieces included: Twenty-two people shot, including one killed, at Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl rally
How Andy Reid comforted frantic teen at Chiefs parade shooting.
—Kansas City Star, 2 Mar. 2025
Last year was a stellar one for movies, but the Oscars banquet table can seat only so many contenders — bagging a nomination becomes a frantic game of musical chairs.
—Tom Gliatto, People.com, 2 Mar. 2025
This is not entirely my fault—I was raised with E.R. reruns as background noise thanks to my mom, a fellow med-TV devotee—but by age 11, I was fully bought into the froth, fun, and occasionally frantic energy that accompanied our culture’s collective obsession with Grey’s Anatomy.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frantic
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Aja Romano, Vox, 4 Mar. 2025
Those pieces included: Twenty-two people shot, including one killed, at Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl rally
How Andy Reid comforted frantic teen at Chiefs parade shooting.
—Kansas City Star, 2 Mar. 2025
Last year was a stellar one for movies, but the Oscars banquet table can seat only so many contenders — bagging a nomination becomes a frantic game of musical chairs.
—Tom Gliatto, People.com, 2 Mar. 2025
This is not entirely my fault—I was raised with E.R. reruns as background noise thanks to my mom, a fellow med-TV devotee—but by age 11, I was fully bought into the froth, fun, and occasionally frantic energy that accompanied our culture’s collective obsession with Grey’s Anatomy.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frantic
Cite this Entry
“Frantic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frantic. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
frantic
adjective
fran·tic
ˈfrant-ik 
1
: wildly excited
frantic cries for help
was frantic with fear
2
: marked by wild and hurried activity
a frantic search for the missing child
franticly
adverb
-i-klē
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