Your English: Collocations: frantic

Frantic is defined as ‘done in a very urgent way’ or ’full of activity’ with the additional meaning of ‘very worried’. For example, ’The recent football transfer ‘window’ was the scene of much frantic activity, with clubs around Europe desperate to sign new players before the window slammed shut.’

The same collocation could also be applied to the world of business and especially to the financial markets, as in ‘Last week was a relatively quiet one on the markets after all the frantic activity at the beginning of the month’.

Efforts or attempts are often described as frantic, as in ‘Despite their frantic efforts to attract attention, the couple remained stranded at the foot of the cliff as the tide rushed in’ or ‘His friends made frantic attempts to help him but to no avail’.

In pressurized situations, there can be a frantic rush, dash or scramble to get somewhere or to achieve something, as in ‘News of the band’s reunion gig led to a frantic scramble for tickets’. Telephone calls can be frantic if the person making the call is desperate, as in ‘He made a series of increasingly frantic telephone calls as he tried to alert the emergency services to the full extent of what had happened’.

In a sporting context, the expression a frantic pace is often used to describe a match where the action is fast and furious rather than measured and skilful, as in ‘The game started off at a frantic pace, although things settled down a little in the second half’.