as in scaring
to strike with fear
for some reason, the herd of feeding animals at the zoo panicked him
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Recent Examples of panicking
Last month, Anthropic released a suite of industry-specific plug-ins for its Claude Cowork AI agent, panicking investors over fears that traditional enterprise software-as-a-service companies could soon be made obsolete.
—
Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 19 Mar. 2026
VCs are used to working on years-long horizons, while antsy retail investors were already panicking on Reddit about losing $1,000 in just a few days.
—Julia Black, Vanity Fair, 17 Mar. 2026
But while Anwar said the bills include no new mandates, thousands of Connecticut residents are panicking about the potential impact.
—Kaitlin McCallum, Hartford Courant, 11 Mar. 2026
If the Sixers’ fan base is panicking, if there are questions surrounding the team, the players have a calm about them that belies their situation.
—Tony Jones, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026
The more transparency and disclosure these firms can provide, the better to keep investors from overly panicking.
—Kelly Evans, CNBC, 6 Mar. 2026
At this moment, Sosnick says, the smart investors will have their heads on a swivel, keeping an eye on private credit without panicking.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 6 Mar. 2026
Irvi started panicking, and his face went gray.
—Caitlin Dickerson, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
After hearing about the military operation in Puerto Vallarta, many Americans with weddings scheduled in Cancun over the next year have been panicking — even though the cities are more than 1,100 miles apart.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 26 Feb. 2026
Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 19 Mar. 2026
VCs are used to working on years-long horizons, while antsy retail investors were already panicking on Reddit about losing $1,000 in just a few days.
—Julia Black, Vanity Fair, 17 Mar. 2026
But while Anwar said the bills include no new mandates, thousands of Connecticut residents are panicking about the potential impact.
—Kaitlin McCallum, Hartford Courant, 11 Mar. 2026
If the Sixers’ fan base is panicking, if there are questions surrounding the team, the players have a calm about them that belies their situation.
—Tony Jones, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026
The more transparency and disclosure these firms can provide, the better to keep investors from overly panicking.
—Kelly Evans, CNBC, 6 Mar. 2026
At this moment, Sosnick says, the smart investors will have their heads on a swivel, keeping an eye on private credit without panicking.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 6 Mar. 2026
Irvi started panicking, and his face went gray.
—Caitlin Dickerson, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
After hearing about the military operation in Puerto Vallarta, many Americans with weddings scheduled in Cancun over the next year have been panicking — even though the cities are more than 1,100 miles apart.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 26 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for panicking
Verb
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Ten points to Gryffindor for Bree shooting and subsequently scaring the bear away.—
Lincee Ray,
Entertainment Weekly,
13 Mar. 2026
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Effectively scaring a bear also reinforces the person as dominant in an encounter, so the bear learns to avoid people.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Clumsiness notwithstanding, bringing a criminal case against a journalist who was reporting on a protest is an authoritarian tactic—a means of frightening the press away from uncovering the truth.—
Quinta Jurecic,
The Atlantic,
30 Jan. 2026
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But monks there complained that the slain king was walking around at night, frightening them with strange sounds.—
Rivka Galchen,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The air in the room changed immediately, terrifying little Liza.—
Elisabeth Garber-Paul,
Rolling Stone,
14 Mar. 2026
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Pic was written and directed by horror filmmaker Ian Tuason, and follows the host (Nina Kiri) of a popular paranormal podcast who becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Hauge called that startling, given that court filing fees alone cost just as much.—
Frederick Melo,
Twin Cities,
4 Jan. 2026
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Saturday, startling his sister.—
Andrew Ramos,
CBS News,
7 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Panicking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/panicking. Accessed 24 Mar. 2026.
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