panic
noun
a sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior, and that often spreads quickly through a group of persons or animals.
panicked
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past participleof panic.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof panic.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
panicnouna sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior, and that often spreads quickly through a group of persons or animals.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I point this out because investors panicked earlier this week as the bottom appeared to drop out of the market — even if temporarily.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
"I noticed at the start of this year, there were a lot of fake items on there. I think they panicked, rightly so...and they've reacted with AI."
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
"Suddenly it started to shake and I panicked," 31-year-old hospital customer service official and Maumere resident, Lukas Lotar, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
“When I started doing my research, I got really panicked and thought that I’d made a horrible mistake and this was just going to be impossibly dark,” Hunnam recalls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
She looked past the point of panicked, to defeated.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
