1
: of, relating to, or resembling the mental or emotional state believed induced by the god Pan
panic fear
2
: of, relating to, or arising from a panic
panic buying
panic selling
a panic retreat
3
: of or relating to the god Pan
Panic rites
1
a
: a sudden overpowering fright
also
: acute, extreme anxiety
b
: a sudden unreasoning terror often accompanied by mass flight
widespread panic in the streets
c
: a sudden widespread fright concerning financial affairs that results in a depression of values caused by extreme measures for protection of property (such as securities)
2
dated slang
: someone or something that is very funny : riot
panicked
ˈpa-nikt 
; panicking
; panicking
1
: to affect with panic
2
: to cause to laugh uproariously
panic an audience with a gag
: to be affected with panic
Did you know?
Panic comes to us from French panique, which in turn derives from Greek panikos, meaning literally "of Pan." Pan is the pipe-playing, nymph-chasing Greek god of fertility, pastures, flocks, and shepherds. (His name is a Doric contraction of paon, meaning "pasturer.") He also has a rather dark side - his shout is said to have instilled fear in the giants fighting the gods, and the Greeks believed him responsible for causing the Persians to flee in terror at the battle of Marathon. Panic entered our language first as an adjective suggesting the mental or emotional state that Pan was said to induce. The adjective first appeared in print at the beginning of the 17th century, and the noun followed about a century later.
Synonyms
Examples of panic in a Sentence
Noun
He was in a panic when he realized how late he was.
There's no reason to get into a panic.
The villagers fled in panic from the approaching army.
The crowd was in a state of panic.
She has panic attacks whenever she has to speak in public.
Verb
If something goes wrong, don't panic.
The deer, panicked by the headlights, ran in front of the car.
Recent Examples on the Web
As Told To Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 24 Feb. 2024
But while Netflix course-corrected that winter — and again following an even worse earnings report that spring — what execs at the company did not do was panic.
—Vulture, 26 Jan. 2024
Comer is especially good at conveying a sense of genuine, if weirdly relaxed, panic.
—Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2024
The prevailing mood of the Kings fans inside the arena was not necessarily panic, but there was certainly angst.
—Scott Cacciola, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2023
When ChatGPT launched for free five months ago, the primary response among educators — including in the Bay Area — was panic.
—Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Apr. 2023
Some people think the real poison is panic.
—Dan Zak, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2023
Still, the first length was panic.
—BostonGlobe.com, 27 Feb. 2023
These are hardly panic-worthy numbers.
—Neil Irwin, New York Times, 8 July 2021
Mohammad Al-Sawalhi, CNN, 14 Apr. 2024
Rebecca Ferguson says her recent revelation that a former co-star treated her abusively on a film set caused some panic among her former castmates.
—James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Apr. 2024
In another example of creatives trying to play nice with generative AI, filmmaker Paul Trillo spoke on the Hard Fork podcast about his experience previewing Sora, OpenAI’s new text-to-video model that recently sent both Hollywood executives and much of the general public into a panic.
—Sage Lazzaro, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2024
Emergency management officials passed out a list of evacuation procedures to worried residents at a Wednesday evening town meeting meant to mitigate panic.
—CBS News, 11 Apr. 2024
Participants in the survey described a variety of experiences while using drugs on Oct. 7, ranging from hallucinations to extreme clarity, from panic to resolve and from paralysis to action.
—Gal Koplewitz Natan Odenheimer, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024
Then, after World War I, much of Europe went into a racial panic that colonial populations would rise up and overwhelm civilization.
—Stefanos Geroulanos, Twin Cities, 10 Apr. 2024
Hours after the explosion in Damascus last week, many of Israel’s almost 10 million people went into a panic: hearing pundits in the media predict a massive retaliation by Iran, Israelis stocked up on food and rushed to ATM’s to draw cash from their accounts in case of all-out war.
—Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman, TIME, 9 Apr. 2024
Breyer loved the job and was reluctant to announce his retirement, throwing liberals who feared another R.B.G. fiasco into a panic.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024
Too much public reporting of vulnerabilities is spent panicking about theoretical risks, distracting us from the often more boring but important work of fixing real problems.
—Justin Warren, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Kevin Kaiser, an adjunct professor of finance at the Wharton School, said such investors can profit by buying at steep discounts when markets are panicking.
—Stan Choe, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2024
Suzy Cain began to panic when Jessica was still not home at 2:30 in the morning.
—Claire Lempert, ABC News, 15 Mar. 2024
Where a lesser friend might have panicked, Eden keeps her calm, honoring her (hungry) pal’s wish to skip the hospital in favor of a fancy restaurant.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 10 Mar. 2024
Being in such a situation is enough to cause any parent to panic.
—Anna Halkidis, Parents, 9 Mar. 2024
But don’t let that panic derail saving for retirement.
—Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
But experts say there is no reason to panic about gas prices, at least not yet.
—Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024
Adjective
The ruling and its aftermath left thousands of people who are currently undergoing IVF treatment in a devastating limbo, adding even more stress, panic, and heartbreak to what is already a grueling endeavor.
—As Told To Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 24 Feb. 2024
But while Netflix course-corrected that winter — and again following an even worse earnings report that spring — what execs at the company did not do was panic.
—Vulture, 26 Jan. 2024
Comer is especially good at conveying a sense of genuine, if weirdly relaxed, panic.
—Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2024
The prevailing mood of the Kings fans inside the arena was not necessarily panic, but there was certainly angst.
—Scott Cacciola, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2023
When ChatGPT launched for free five months ago, the primary response among educators — including in the Bay Area — was panic.
—Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Apr. 2023
Some people think the real poison is panic.
—Dan Zak, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2023
Still, the first length was panic.
—BostonGlobe.com, 27 Feb. 2023
These are hardly panic-worthy numbers.
—Neil Irwin, New York Times, 8 July 2021
Noun
Missiles can be seen in the distance while people run in panic.
—Mohammad Al-Sawalhi, CNN, 14 Apr. 2024
Rebecca Ferguson says her recent revelation that a former co-star treated her abusively on a film set caused some panic among her former castmates.
—James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Apr. 2024
In another example of creatives trying to play nice with generative AI, filmmaker Paul Trillo spoke on the Hard Fork podcast about his experience previewing Sora, OpenAI’s new text-to-video model that recently sent both Hollywood executives and much of the general public into a panic.
—Sage Lazzaro, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2024
Emergency management officials passed out a list of evacuation procedures to worried residents at a Wednesday evening town meeting meant to mitigate panic.
—CBS News, 11 Apr. 2024
Participants in the survey described a variety of experiences while using drugs on Oct. 7, ranging from hallucinations to extreme clarity, from panic to resolve and from paralysis to action.
—Gal Koplewitz Natan Odenheimer, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024
Then, after World War I, much of Europe went into a racial panic that colonial populations would rise up and overwhelm civilization.
—Stefanos Geroulanos, Twin Cities, 10 Apr. 2024
Hours after the explosion in Damascus last week, many of Israel’s almost 10 million people went into a panic: hearing pundits in the media predict a massive retaliation by Iran, Israelis stocked up on food and rushed to ATM’s to draw cash from their accounts in case of all-out war.
—Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman, TIME, 9 Apr. 2024
Breyer loved the job and was reluctant to announce his retirement, throwing liberals who feared another R.B.G. fiasco into a panic.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Verb
There's no reason to panic: Federal and state health authorities are investigating the outbreaks, and the USDA said the risk to the general public is low as the viruses have only rarely been transmitted from person to person.
—USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024
Too much public reporting of vulnerabilities is spent panicking about theoretical risks, distracting us from the often more boring but important work of fixing real problems.
—Justin Warren, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Kevin Kaiser, an adjunct professor of finance at the Wharton School, said such investors can profit by buying at steep discounts when markets are panicking.
—Stan Choe, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2024
Suzy Cain began to panic when Jessica was still not home at 2:30 in the morning.
—Claire Lempert, ABC News, 15 Mar. 2024
Where a lesser friend might have panicked, Eden keeps her calm, honoring her (hungry) pal’s wish to skip the hospital in favor of a fancy restaurant.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 10 Mar. 2024
Being in such a situation is enough to cause any parent to panic.
—Anna Halkidis, Parents, 9 Mar. 2024
But don’t let that panic derail saving for retirement.
—Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
But experts say there is no reason to panic about gas prices, at least not yet.
—Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'panic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near panic
Cite this Entry
“Panic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panic. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
panic
1 of 2 noun
pan·ic
ˈpan-ik
1
: a sudden overpowering fright especially without reasonable cause
also
: extreme anxiousness
2
: a sudden widespread fright concerning financial affairs causing hurried selling and a sharp fall in prices
panic
adjective
panicky
adjective
ˈpan-i-kē
panic
2 of 2 verb
panicked
-ikt
; panicking
: to affect or be affected with panic
Etymology
Noun
Greek panikon "fear caused by Pan, panic," from panikos "relating to the fear caused by Pan," literally, "of Pan," from Pan, name of a god of woods and shepherds
Word Origin
The ancient Greeks worshipped a god of pastures, flocks, and shepherds whom they named Pan. Pan was believed to be able to cause great fear at times. The people of Athens believed that it was Pan who had caused the Persians to flee in terror from the battle of Marathon. The Greek adjective panikos, literally meaning "of Pan," was used to describe the kind of sudden fear that Pan was thought to cause. The English word panic comes from Greek panikos.
Medical Definition
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