frantically

adverb

fran·​ti·​cal·​ly ˈfran-ti-k(ə-)lē 

: in a frantic manner : in a nervously hurried, desperate, or panic-stricken way

searching frantically for the key fob

[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 of frantically

• 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

At the bottom of the hill, Phillips' husband was frantically searching for someone who could help him. —Michele Gile, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026

One of the women described a crowd surge as people frantically tried to escape from a basement nightclub up a flight of stairs and through a narrow door. —Jamey Keaten, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2026

Videos from inside Le Constellation verified by Reuters appeared to show wooden ceiling panels on fire as crowds frantically tried to escape. —Melina Khan, USA Today, 2 Jan. 2026

One of the women described a crowd surge as people frantically tried to escape from a basement nightclub up a narrow flight of stairs and through a narrow door. —Bradford Betz , Greg Norman , Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 1 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1739, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for frantically

• romantically
• semantically