Hectic

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Hectic

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

adjective

Pronunciation

HEK-tik  /ˈhɛktɪk/

Definition

Full of frantic, feverish activity; characterised by hurry and confusion; (of a schedule or period) overloaded with activity and demanding; historically, relating to a regularly recurring fever typical of tuberculosis.

Plain meaning

Hectic means frantic and full of rushed activity — a hectic day, a hectic schedule, a hectic pace. The original medical sense — relating to the characteristic flushed fever of tuberculosis — has been almost entirely replaced by the modern sense of feverishly busy.

Register

Neutral and very widely used. Hectic is one of the standard informal-to-neutral adjectives for a period of intense, rushed activity. A hectic schedule, a hectic day, a hectic pace: each is common in journalistic, professional, and everyday speech.