hectic

hectic

English

Alternative forms

• hectick (obsolete)
• hectical (archaic)

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, intransitive be in a certain state”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛktɪk/

• Audio (UK)

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• Rhymes: -ɛktɪk
• Hyphenation: hec‧tic

Adjective

hectic (comparative more hectic, superlative most hectic)

1. (figuratively) Very busy with activity and confusion.

   Synonym: feverish

   The city center is so hectic at 8 in the morning that I go to work an hour beforehand to avoid the crowds

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.
   • 1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, chapter VI, in Mary: A Fiction‎:

     Ann had a hectic cough, and many unfavourable prognostics […] .

   • 1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter 1, in The Last Man. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 230675575:

     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 […] .

Derived terms

• hectically
• hecticity
• hectivity

Translations

very busy with activity and confusion

Bulgarian: възбуден (bg) (vǎzbuden), неспокоен (bg) (nespokoen) Catalan: frenètic (ca), agitat (ca), febril Chinese: Mandarin: 忙碌的 (mánglù de), 繁忙的 (fánmáng de) Czech: hektický (cs) Dutch: hectisch (nl) Finnish: kuumeinen (fi), kiihkeä (fi), hektinen (fi) French: agité (fr) German: hektisch (de) Italian: febbrile (it), frenetico (it) m Polish: hektyczny (pl) Portuguese: febril (pt), frenético (pt) Romanian: agitat (ro), febril (ro) Russian: лихора́дочный (ru) (lixorádočnyj), суетли́вый (ru) (sujetlívyj), сумато́шный (ru) (sumatóšnyj) Spanish: ajetreado (es), febril (es), agobiante (es), frenético Swedish: jäktig (sv) Ukrainian: гарячковий m (harjačkovyj), метушливий m (metušlyvyj)

denoting a type of fever accompanying consumption

Bulgarian: трескав (bg) (treskav) Catalan: febril, hèctic Finnish: hektinen (fi) French: hectique (fr) Polish: hektyczny (pl) Portuguese: febril (pt), frenético (pt) Romanian: hectic Russian: лихора́дочный (ru) (lixorádočnyj) Ukrainian: гектичний m (hektyčnyj), сухотний m (suxotnyj)

Noun

hectic (plural hectics)

1. (obsolete) A hectic fever.
   • 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 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii], page 273:

     […] Do it England, / For like the Hecticke in my blood he rages, / And thou muſt cure me: […]

2. (obsolete) A flush like one produced by such a fever.
   • 1768, Mr. Yorick [pseudonym; Laurence Sterne], A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, volume I, London: […] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, […], OCLC 61680753, page 17:

     The poor Franciscan made no reply: a hectic of a moment pass’d across his cheek, but could not tarry […]

   • 1819 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], OCLC 560103767, canto II, stanza 147:

     For still he lay, and on his thin worn cheek / A purple hectic played like dying day / On the snow-tops of distant hills […]

   • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

     an angry hectic in each cheek, a fierce flirt of her fan, and two or three short sniffs that betokened mischief

Further reading

• hectic in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• hectic in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

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Romanian

Etymology

From French hectique.

Adjective

hectic m or n (feminine singular hectică, masculine plural hectici, feminine and neuter plural hectice)

1. hectic

Declension

Declension of hectic

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	hectic		hectică	hectici	hectice
	definite	hecticul		hectica	hecticii	hecticele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	hectic		hectice	hectici	hectice
	definite	hecticului		hecticei	hecticilor	hecticelor