hectic

UK: /ˈhɛktɪk/ US: /ˈhɛktɪk/ ,(hek′tik)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

hec•tic /ˈhɛktɪk/   adj. 

1. full of excitement or confused or hurried activity:
   a hectic schedule.
2. feverish;
   flushed;
   red.

hec•ti•cal•ly, adv. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

hec•tic  (hek′tik), adj. 

1. characterized by intense agitation, excitement, confused and rapid movement, etc.:
   The week before the trip was hectic and exhausting.

• Middle French
• Greek hektikós habitual, consumptive, adjective, adjectival corresponding to héxis possession, state, habit, equivalent. to *hech-, base of échein to have + -sis -sis; see -tic; replacing Middle English etyk
• Late Latin hecticus
• Middle English 1350–1400

hec′ti•cal•ly, hec′tic•ly, adv. 
hec′tic•ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. frantic, frenzied, wild, chaotic.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

hectic / ˈhɛktɪk/ adjective

1. characterized by extreme activity or excitement
2. associated with, peculiar to, or symptomatic of tuberculosis (esp in the phrases hectic fever, hectic flush)

noun

1. a hectic fever or flush
2. a person who is consumptive or who experiences a hectic fever or flush

Etymology: 14th Century: from Late Latin hecticus, from Greek hektikos habitual, from hexis state, from ekhein to have

ˈhectically, ˈhecticly adverb