anxiety attack

noun

plural anxiety attacks

: a sudden feeling or episode of anxiety

specifically : an episode of mild to severe worry, distress, or fear that may last for hours or days, is typically preceded by a period of gradually increasing levels of fear and worry (such as that associated with a perceived stressor or threat), and that has symptoms (such as increased heart rate and shortness of breath) similar to but often less intense than those associated with a panic attack

… the odds of coming across someone in college having an anxiety attack are fairly high.

—Alisa Patience

The mention of any political figure in the vicinity of my dining room table is enough to induce an anxiety attack.

—Anna Little

I remember getting ready to do the buffet scene on the lawn, and for some reason I got an anxiety attack. I could hardly move. I was terrified.

—Jack Nicholson

Examples of anxiety attack in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Not working through a traumatic experience means stress can manifest psychologically through responses like anxiety attacks, flashbacks, or nightmares. —Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 1 July 2024

As the drugs and adrenaline wore off, doctors said, there were night terrors, anxiety attacks, tantrums. —Shira Rubin, Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2024

That woman ran out of the room, probably having her own anxiety attack. —Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023

The Lopez family is back home now, albeit living amid a construction zone, showering at a neighbor’s house and having anxiety attacks at the thought of rain. —Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 18 Dec. 2023

Word History

Etymology

probably after German Angstanfall or Angstattacke

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined above