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

An influencer who’d been posing in a sports bra and very short shorts sprinted past us in a panic, trailed by some poor guy juggling way too much camera gear and a frantically barking Chihuahua. — Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026

In the moments after the girl was run over by the truck, bystanders could be seen frantically waving their hands and running to help her. — Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2026

Crisp shirting seen at Tommy Hilfiger that appears to be thrown on backward, as if frantically shimmied into after oversleeping. — Alison Syrett Cleary, InStyle, 16 Sep. 2026

Hargitay and her fellow detectives frantically throw around clues Swiftie-style during the first half of the sketch, making absolute reaches to connect unrelated bits of information. — Entertainment Weekly, 15 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1739, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for frantically

• romantically