frenzy
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a period of time when people are very excited or active in an uncontrolled way.
n.a state of wild, frantic, or uncontrolled activity, often involving a large group or intense emotion.
Simple“The shoppers were in a frenzy as they tried to get the best deals.”
In context“The announcement of the new product line sent the tech industry into a speculative frenzy that lasted for weeks.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
n.a state of mind where you are so angry or upset that you cannot think clearly.
n.a violent agitation of the mind approaching temporary madness or extreme rage.
Simple“In a frenzy of anger, he threw his phone across the room.”
In context“The protagonist, driven by a frenzy of grief, wandered the moors until dawn broke over the horizon.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
v.to make someone or something become wild and uncontrolled.
v.to drive into a state of frantic or wild activity. Transitive in this sense; often used in the passive voice.
Simple“The smell of blood frenzied the sharks in the water.”
In context“The crowd was frenzied by the speaker's aggressive rhetoric, leading to a chaotic demonstration outside the hall.”
“A global frenzy around artificial intelligence has driven wild swings in the value of the country's biggest chipmakers.”
“The Sun and the Daily Mail newspapers enjoyed a feeding frenzy at the prospect of a black man – one with locs, no less – becoming a fellow at Cambridge.”
From Middle English frensy, frenesie, from Old French frenesie, from Latin phrenesis, from Ancient Greek φρένησις (phrénēsis), a later equivalent of φρενῖτις (phrenîtis, “inflammation of the brain”): see frantic and frenetic. Doublet of phrenesis.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.