frantically

adverb

fran·​ti·​cal·​ly ˈfran-ti-k(ə-)lē 

: 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

Synonyms

• amok
• amuck
• berserk
• berserkly
• frenetically
• frenziedly
• harum-scarum
• hectically
• helter-skelter
• madly
• pell-mell
• wild
• wildly

Examples of frantically in a Sentence

the veterinarian ran frantically from room to room looking for the escaped hamster

Recent Examples on the Web

Workers at the plant tried frantically to contain the damage, by, for example, spraying seawater from fire hoses and rigging up car batteries to supply power. —Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2025

His hands, ordinarily trapped in the pockets of his tracksuit when not frantically presenting tactical instructions or wagging a finger at opposition benches, escaped midway through the second half of his side’s 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion to savour the moment with the Palace supporters. —Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025

Within hours, an informal legal network was frantically trying to stop those deportations and working with Texas lawyers who would file federal court petitions. —Tim Sullivan, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2025

For example, one race stretched from icy glaciers to overflowing rivers to a bustling town as racers frantically hit the gas, grabbed items and duked it out to the end. —Jordan Moreau, Variety, 3 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1739, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for frantically

• romantically
• semantically