frenzy

Frenzy refers to a state of intense, often wild or uncontrollable excitement or behavior. It can describe a person who acts with excessive energy and little regard for restraint, or a crowd that becomes chaotic and frenzied. The term is frequently used to convey heightened arousal, impulsivity, and a temporary disruption of normal judgment.

In clinical or psychological contexts, frenzy is not a specific diagnosis but a descriptor of behavior that may accompany various conditions. It can occur in mania, delirium, acute psychosis, stimulant intoxication, or circumstances that provoke extreme agitation. Symptoms may include rapid speech, restlessness, aggression, disorganized actions, and impaired awareness of surroundings.

The word entered English in the late medieval period, with roots in Old French and earlier linguistic strands that refer to turmoil of the mind. Over time, frenzy has come to denote both individual states of extreme excitement and collective outbursts by groups or crowds.

Culturally, frenzy appears in titles and phrases that convey extremity or mass excitement. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1972 thriller Frenzy is a prominent example in film, focusing on fear and urban danger. In everyday language, phrases such as “feeding frenzy” or “shopping frenzy” describe situations where people react with intense, often competitive energy around a particular event, product, or news item.

See also: mania, delirium, mob mentality, hysteria.