panic-stricken

adjective

Definition of panic-strickennext
as in frightened
too overcome with panic to think or act normally The panic-stricken horses crashed through the door of the burning barn.

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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 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
  1. frightened
  2. panicked
  3. terrified
  4. scared
  5. panicky
Adjective
  • Perreault-Magny said frightened and flustered migrants sometimes try to climb into his unmarked patrol pickup, mistaking it for a smuggler coming to collect them.
    — Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 29 July 2026
  • Meanwhile, the people standing beside the robot look frightened.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of frightened
Adjective
  • In the hours that followed, footage of the panicked scenes that followed began surfacing on social media.
    — Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 27 July 2026
  • Holzinger jumps into the tank, her movements inelegant and panicked, and pulls Nüganen out.
    — Lauren Oyler, New Yorker, 20 July 2026
Definition of panicked
Adjective
  • The child runs back inside the bodega seeking safety before collapsing near the front counter as terrified customers scramble for cover.
    — Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 26 July 2026
  • Appropriately terrified, Russ jumps backward, shattering the window.
    — Emma Banks, PEOPLE, 22 July 2026
Definition of terrified
Adjective
  • Well, Martha, look, Republicans, my party, has got to be scared, and especially some very good members of Congress who otherwise might deserve re-election are weighed down by the following.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 July 2026
  • Instead, too many are running scared and pleading for protection.
    — Craig Garthwaite, Fortune, 24 July 2026
Definition of scared
Adjective
  • The vice president was panicky, the authors wrote.
    — Maureen Dowd, Mercury News, 18 June 2026
  • 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.
    — Drew Goins, The Atlantic, 19 May 2026
Definition of panicky

Browse Nearby Words

panics
panic-stricken
panjandrum
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Cite this Entry

“Panic-stricken.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/panic-stricken. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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