as in scares
to strike with fear
for some reason, the herd of feeding animals at the zoo panicked him
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Recent Examples of panics
And yes, before anyone panics, agents can still take their cut, and unions can still protect their rights.
—
Eline Van Der Velden, Variety, 23 Jan. 2026
Meanwhile, Me Ree panics after discovering Sarang has gone missing and immediately reports it to the police, turning Mamiew, Jake and Bobby into prime suspects in a child abduction case.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 15 Jan. 2026
Even when the buyer has been preapproved, an underwriter sometimes panics about the looming income interruption.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 10 Dec. 2025
Paulena panics and gets the hell out of there in record time.
—Caroline Framke, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025
Screen panics of various kinds arose and subsided every decade thereafter.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2025
He's never been a great shooter or defender, but prefers to operate with the ball in his hands, and often panics and makes costly mental mistakes at ends of games.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
But Griff panics during a snake attack scene and accidentally kills the stunt snake.
—Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 17 Sep. 2025
While Emma’s at Jitter Bean, Tess panics at the sight of another Starlighter poster popping up.
—Olivia Singh, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Eline Van Der Velden, Variety, 23 Jan. 2026
Meanwhile, Me Ree panics after discovering Sarang has gone missing and immediately reports it to the police, turning Mamiew, Jake and Bobby into prime suspects in a child abduction case.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 15 Jan. 2026
Even when the buyer has been preapproved, an underwriter sometimes panics about the looming income interruption.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 10 Dec. 2025
Paulena panics and gets the hell out of there in record time.
—Caroline Framke, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025
Screen panics of various kinds arose and subsided every decade thereafter.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2025
He's never been a great shooter or defender, but prefers to operate with the ball in his hands, and often panics and makes costly mental mistakes at ends of games.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
But Griff panics during a snake attack scene and accidentally kills the stunt snake.
—Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 17 Sep. 2025
While Emma’s at Jitter Bean, Tess panics at the sight of another Starlighter poster popping up.
—Olivia Singh, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for panics
Verb
-
Geopolitical scares that faded and allowed oil prices to recede.—
Chris Isidore,
CNN Money,
3 Mar. 2026
-
He’s also been involved in multiple injury scares to star players in the last year.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
28 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The piercing sunlight frightens her.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Like the 1987 Kurt Vonnegut novel from which the restaurant took its name, Bluebeard encourages guests to drop their guard, surround themselves with other people and try something that frightens them a little.—
USA TODAY NETWORK,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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If hypotheticals about what could have been are a good dream for New York Knicks fans, then Mikal Bridges is the alarm clock that startles them awake.—
James L. Edwards III,
New York Times,
2 Mar. 2026
-
The project, which Steinberger has rebranded multiple times—evolving from Clawdbot to Moltbot and finally to OpenClaw—largely owing to politics—has expanded at a pace that startles even seasoned AI experts.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Aubry Bracco is the kind of player who terrifies a certain (male) demographic of Survivor alumni.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
25 Feb. 2026
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What terrifies Iran’s theocrats the most, the fear that eclipses all their fears, is the ability of the people at large to clearly see the essential realities of the present regime.—
Azadeh Moaveni,
Time,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Panics.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/panics. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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