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hectic

adj, noun — 5 senses

hectic

adj

/ˈhɛktɪk/

Etymology From Middle English etik, ethik, from Old French etique, from Medieval Latin *hecticus, from Ancient Greek ἑκτικός (hektikós, “habitual, hectic, consumptive”), from ἕξις (héxis, “a state or habit of body or of mind, condition”), from ἔχειν (ékhein, “to have, hold, be in a certain state”).

1

Figuratively Very busy with activity and confusion.

  • The city center is so hectic at 8 in the morning that I go to work an hour beforehand to avoid the crowds
  • Phoenix:It must have been too hectic that night to clean up.2007 March 16, Capcom Production Studio 4, quoting Phoenix, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All, Europe: Capcom, →OCLC, Nintendo DS, scene: Part 3: Investigation, Cafeteria, level/area: Turnabout Big Top:
2

Obsolete Denoting a type of fever accompanying consumption and similar wasting diseases, characterised by flushed cheeks and dry skin.

  • hectic fever
3

Obsolete Pertaining to or symptomatic of such a fever.

  • Ann had a hectic cough, and many unfavourable prognostics […].1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, chapter VI, in Mary: A Fiction:
  • She never complained, but sleep and appetite fled from her, a slow fever preyed on her veins, her colour was hectic, and she often wept in secret […].1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter I, in The Last Man. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
Derived terms
antihectic, hectically, hecticity, hecticness, hectivity, unhectic

hectic

noun

Etymology From Middle English etik, ethik, from Old French etique, from Medieval Latin *hecticus, from Ancient Greek ἑκτικός (hektikós, “habitual, hectic, consumptive”), from ἕξις (héxis, “a state or habit of body or of mind, condition”), from ἔχειν (ékhein, “to have, hold, be in a certain state”).

1

Obsolete A hectic fever.

  • […] Do it England, / For like the Hecticke in my blood he rages, / And thou muſt cure me: […]c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 273:
2

Obsolete A flush like one produced by such a fever.

  • The poor Franciscan made no reply: a hectic of a moment pass’d across his cheek, but could not tarry […]1768, Mr. Yorick [pseudonym; Laurence Sterne], A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, volume I, London: […] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, […], →OCLC, page 17:
  • For still he lay, and on his thin worn cheek / A purple hectic played like dying day / On the snow-tops of distant hills […]1819 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, canto II, stanza 147:
1 more example
  • an angry hectic in each cheek, a fierce flirt of her fan, and two or three short sniffs that betokened mischief1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.