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
The alarms go off, the two get locked in the entry hall, and as Emma panics, Charlie rushes over to kiss her, quieting her fear.
—
Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2026
The veteran Swedish defender reads play early, organizes the defensive line and rarely panics when San Diego’s aggressive pressing scheme stretches the field.
—Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Mar. 2026
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
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
Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2026
The veteran Swedish defender reads play early, organizes the defensive line and rarely panics when San Diego’s aggressive pressing scheme stretches the field.
—Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Mar. 2026
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for panics
Verb
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The public scares me, mobs scare me.—
Liz McNeil,
PEOPLE,
6 May 2026
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That's what scares people who spoke with CBS News Baltimore.—
Ashley Paul,
CBS News,
5 May 2026
Verb
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But the future Hall of Famer is coming off ACL surgery, might lack mobility, and has a receiving corps that frightens nobody.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
15 May 2026
-
The piercing sunlight frightens her.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 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
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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
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Frankly, the thought of being beaten by the subscribers terrifies me.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
13 Mar. 2026
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Aubry Bracco is the kind of player who terrifies a certain (male) demographic of Survivor alumni.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Panics.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/panics. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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