as in frightened
too overcome with panic to think or act normally
The panic-stricken horses crashed through the door of the burning barn.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of panic-stricken
For the first time in his life, the great shark couldn’t swim freely and, panic-stricken, bolted clear of his world and there was only emptiness, and his tail and pectoral fins were helpless in the void.
—
Pat Smith,
Outdoor Life,
24 July 2025
That afternoon, another detainee called her with a message that left her panic-stricken: Her son, 25-year-old Yoiker David Sequera, had been taken away to a notorious offshore prison.
—
Lauren Villagran,
USA TODAY,
13 Feb. 2025
These are not the first crew members to be panic-stricken by a stray rat today.
—
Dalton Ross,
EW.com,
12 May 2023
Pat Smith,
Outdoor Life,
24 July 2025
That afternoon, another detainee called her with a message that left her panic-stricken: Her son, 25-year-old Yoiker David Sequera, had been taken away to a notorious offshore prison.
—
Lauren Villagran,
USA TODAY,
13 Feb. 2025
These are not the first crew members to be panic-stricken by a stray rat today.
—
Dalton Ross,
EW.com,
12 May 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for panic-stricken
Adjective
-
Rodríguez acknowledged that many remain too frightened to return home even after inspections declared some buildings safe.
-
Some days are spent inside an Ebola Treatment Unit caring for patients who are frightened, isolated, and desperately ill.
Adjective
-
Body cam footage shows a Ross Township police officer catching a panicked fawn that was trapped after falling over a retaining wall.
-
Concerns of a serial killer first emerged in late 2010 after the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, a 23-year-old woman who placed panicked 911 calls from the Oak Beach community before vanishing into the surrounding marsh.
Adjective
-
Sunday, June 21, at a home in LaGrange, and the suspect’s 2-year-old daughter was among the terrified witnesses, the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office said in court documents.
-
Psilocybin, in particular, appears to be highly effective for helping people with terminal illnesses feel less terrified of dying.
Adjective
-
Still, farmworkers across the country are scared to go to work.
-
In Utah, doctors continue to reassure scared patients and lobby for better public health policy.
Adjective
-
The vice president was panicky, the authors wrote.
-
In the mid-2010s, when every other norm of civility was beginning to fall apart, Jeopardy strategy became a panicky knife fight for the Doubles, the most powerful clues on the board.
Cite this Entry
“Panic-stricken.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/panic-stricken. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
