panic
panic Lexical Profile
panic Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Sudden, uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior or affecting an entire group at once.
"A wave of panic swept through the theater when the fire alarm began to blare."
A widespread financial apprehension that triggers hasty selling, bank runs, and a sudden collapse in market prices.
"The banking panic of 1907 eventually led to the creation of the Federal Reserve System."
Any of various grasses of the genus Panicum or related genera, native to warm and temperate regions worldwide and grown for grain or forage.
"Farmers in arid regions often cultivate panic as a hardy, drought-tolerant forage crop for livestock."
• verb
To feel or be overcome by sudden, uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often acting without rational thought.
"When the hiker realized he had lost the trail at dusk, he tried not to panic."
To cause someone or a group to experience sudden, overwhelming fear or agitation.
"Rumors of an impending fuel shortage panicked motorists into forming long lines at gas stations."
• adjective
Of, relating to, or characterized by sudden, overwhelming, and uncontrollable fear or anxiety.
"The sudden power outage triggered a brief panic reaction among the passengers trapped in the subway car."
Word Nuance & Usage
When inflecting the verb 'panic', a 'k' is added before suffixes beginning with a vowel (panicked, panicking, panicky) to preserve the hard /k/ sound of the final 'c'.
• Rhymes for panic
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 17th century from Middle French 'panique', from Ancient Greek 'panikos' ('of or pertaining to Pan'), referring to the woodland god Pan, who was believed to cause sudden, inexplicable, and contagious terror in lonely places.