Wildly excited or distraught with fear, anxiety, or other intense emotion. Characterized by desperate urgency or uncontrolled activity.
From Old French 'frenetique', from Latin 'phreneticus', from Greek 'phrenitikos' (relating to delirium). Originally a medical term describing mental inflammation, it evolved to describe any state of intense agitation.
The word's medical origins remind us that what we now call 'frantic' behavior was once thought to result from literal brain inflammation - ancient physicians would have prescribed rest and cooling treatments for someone acting frantically.
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