different between frantic vs hysterical

English

Alternative forms

• frantick (obsolete)
• phrantic (chiefly obsolete)
• phrantick (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English frantik, frentik, from Old French frenetique, from Late Latin phreneticus, alteration of phreniticus, from ?????????? (phrenitikós, “mad, suffering from inflammation of the brain”), from ???????? (phrenîtis, “inflammation of the brain”), from ???? (phr?n, “the brain”). Doublet of frenetic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f?ænt?k/
• Rhymes: -ænt?k

Adjective

frantic (comparative more frantic, superlative most frantic)

1. (archaic) Insane, mentally unstable.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XV:

     Master have mercy on my sonne, for he is franticke: and ys sore vexed.

   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act I, Scene 3,^[1]

     If with myself I hold intelligence,

     Or have acquaintance with mine own desires;

     If that I do not dream, or be not frantic—

     As I do trust I am not—then, dear uncle,

     Never so much as in a thought unborn

     Did I offend your Highness.

2. In a state of panic, worry, frenzy or rush.

3. Extremely energetic

Synonyms

• frenetic, frenzied

Related terms

• frenetic
• phrenitis
• frenzy

Translations

Noun

frantic (plural frantics)

1. (archaic) A person who is insane or mentally unstable, madman.
   • 1595, George Peele, The Old Wives’ Tale, The Malone Society Reprints, 1908, lines 3-5,^[3]

     How nowe fellowe Franticke, what all a mort? Doth this sadnes become thy madnes?

   • 1657, Aston Cockayne, The Obstinate Lady, London: Isaac Pridmore, Act V, Scene 3, p. 56,^[4]

     […] who but sensless Franticks would have thoughts so poor? My Reason forsakes the government of this weak Frame, and I am fall’n into disorder […]

   • 1721, Cotton Mather, diary entry for 16 July, 1721 in Diary of Cotton Mather, 1709-1724, Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, Seventh Series, Volume VIII, Boston: 1912, p. 632,^[5]

     The Destroyer, being enraged at the Proposal of any Thing, that may rescue the Lives of our poor People from him, has taken a strange Possession of the People on this Occasion. They rave, they rail, they blaspheme; they talk not only like Ideots but also like Franticks, […]

References

Further reading

• frantic in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• frantic in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• frantic at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• infarct, infract

English

Etymology

From hysteric +? -al, from Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ????????? (husterikós, “suffering in the womb, hysterical”), from ??????? (hustér?, “womb”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h??st???k?l/

Adjective

hysterical (comparative more hysterical, superlative most hysterical)

1. Of, or arising from hysteria.
   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 16:

     An event of this nature, a marriage, or a refusal, or a proposal, thrills through a whole household of women, and sets all their hysterical sympathies at work.

2. Having, or prone to having hysterics.
3. Provoking uncontrollable laughter.

Usage notes

• Like many terms that start with a non-silent h but have emphasis on their second syllable, some people precede hysterical with an, others with a.

Related terms

• hysteric
• hysterics
• hysteria

Translations

Further reading

• hysterical in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• hysterical at OneLook Dictionary Search