frantically

adverb

fran·​ti·​cal·​ly ˈfran-ti-k(ə-)lē How to pronounce frantically (audio)
: in a frantic manner : in a nervously hurried, desperate, or panic-stricken way
[Carlton] Fisk stood several feet down the line, frantically urging the ball fair with his hands. It hit the yellow foul pole above the wall, a home run.Ron Fimrite
Wine companies, fearing that younger drinkers are slipping out of their grasp, have been frantically trying to create products that will be viewed as edgy, hip and fun.Mitch Frank
During the new moon, a hatch of baby sea turtles erupts from the sand, struggling frantically to get to the ocean.Bernice Notenboom

Examples of frantically in a Sentence

the veterinarian ran frantically from room to room looking for the escaped hamster
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Gone are the days where young people worked to frantically amass huge pension wealth to enjoy later down the line—at least for Generation Zers, who seem more interested in enjoying their savings now and less trusting of the social security systems in place to safeguard them later on. Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Oct. 2025 Out the window, the tops of the trees move frantically in the wind, a wind which descends from the wilder mountains further north. Hazlitt, 8 Oct. 2025 As much as the action, which is tightly cut and usually alternates confidently between characters frantically on-the-move and other characters huddled in claustrophobic spaces, the storylines are held together by the performances. Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2025 Indonesian rescue teams are frantically searching for scores of young students buried for two days under rubble in Sidoarjo, East Java, after their Islamic boarding school collapsed on them during afternoon prayers. Helen Regan, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for frantically

Word History

First Known Use

1739, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of frantically was in 1739

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Cite this Entry

“Frantically.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frantically. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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