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

• wildly
• desperately
• wild
• uncontrollably
• frenziedly

Examples of frantically in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Soda had left campus just 30 minutes before the shooting happened, and was texting frantically with colleagues during the attack. —Pien Huang, NPR, 20 Aug. 2025

Democrats in the Legislature are spending their first week back from summer recess frantically redrawing the state’s congressional maps in response to redistricting efforts in Texas. —Jon Coupal, Oc Register, 17 Aug. 2025

The image left in my head, though, is of the toilet bowl being frantically flushed by Charlotte’s art-dealer boss, a man whose private jet can’t spare him from the gastrointestinal Thanksgiving issues of a lactose-intolerant Gen Zer. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 15 Aug. 2025

Armed officers were then seen running into the room, while other officers frantically called for medical backup. —Escher Walcott, People.com, 13 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1739, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for frantically

• romantically
• semantically