panicnoun [ C usually singular, U ]
uk/ˈpæn.ɪk/us/ˈpæn.ɪk/B2 a sudden strong feeling of fear that prevents reasonable thought and action:
a state of panic
Panic spread through the crowd as the bullets started to fly.
Carmel was in a panic about her exam.
He got in(to) a panic that he would forget his lines on stage.
More examples
- Hyperventilation can be caused by fear or panic.
- I was in a mad panic trying to get everything ready.
- A wave of panic swept through the crowd and people started running.
- The explosion sent the crowd into a panic.
- To say that her resignation was a shock would be an understatement - it caused panic.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Fear & phobias
- acrophobia
- aerophobia
- agoraphobic
- alarm
- arachnophobia
- bogey
- chill
- claustrophobia
- cold sweat
- fearful
- fright
- homophobia
- horror
- hydrophobia
- hydrophobic
- mortal
- panic stations
- phobia
- terror
- xenophobe
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panicverb [ I or T ]
uk/ˈpæn.ɪk/us/ˈpæn.ɪk/present participle panicking, past tense and past participle panickedB2 to suddenly feel so worried or frightened that you cannot think or behave calmly or reasonably:
Don't panic! Everything will be okay.
The sound of gunfire panicked the crowd.
The boss always panics over/about the budget every month.
More examples
- Don't panic - it mightn't be true.
- Don't panic, there's bags of time yet.
- Panicking isn't going to help the situation.
- I suddenly thought no one was going to come and panicked.
- He panicked and slammed his foot on the brake.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Afraid
- afraid
- be like a deer/rabbit caught in the headlights idiom
- bottle
- bottle out
- cower
- dread
- fear for sb/sth
- horror-struck
- in terror of your life idiom
- intimidated
- panic-stricken
- panicky
- pants
- quake
- shit a brick idiom
- terrified
- terror
- terror-stricken
- unconfident
- worst
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