Frenzy
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A state of wild activity or panic. countable, uncountable
"international media frenzy"
- 2 state of violent mental agitation wordnet
- 3 A violent agitation of the mind approaching madness; rage. countable, uncountable
"The poet's eye in a fine frenzy rolling."
- 1 To render frantic. uncommon
"Both goaded on to strife by frenzying hate."
- 2 To exhibit a frenzy, such as a feeding frenzy. rare
"The fresh smell of salt air, the sound of the crashing swell, the soothing immersion in the water, the sight of dolphins playing and fish frenzying beneath my board."
- 1 Mad; frantic. obsolete
"They thought that some frenzy distemper had got into his head."
Example
More examples"There was a problem with the architecture of that company's new computer. They're going through a recall frenzy right now."
Etymology
From Middle English frensy, frenesie, from Old French frenesie, from Latin phrenesis, from Ancient Greek *φρένησις (*phrénēsis), a later equivalent of φρενῖτις (phrenîtis, “inflammation of the brain”): see frantic and frenetic. Doublet of phrenesis.
Related phrases
More for "frenzy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.