freakout

American  

[freek-out] / ˈfrikˌaʊt /

noun

1. an act or instance of freaking out.

2. a person who freaks out.

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verb phrase

1. to lose or cause to lose emotional control from extreme excitement, shock, fear, joy, despair, etc..

   Seeing the dead body completely freaked him out.

2. to enter into or cause a period of irrational behavior or emotional instability, especially under the influence of a drug.

   to be freaked out on LSD.

Etymology

Origin of freakout

First recorded in 1965–70; noun use of verb phrase freak out (in the sense “to lose one's emotional control”

Example Sentences

He’s looked a little ragged in recent weeks, and though Maye said this week he will be “just fine,” the status of his shoulder is undeniably Patriots freakout topic No. 1.

From The Wall Street Journal

However, our call of the day from the former head of commodities at hedge-fund giant Bridgewater, Alexander Campbell, says the “current freakout is overblown” and investors should own the dollar and gold.

From MarketWatch

The audience was lapping it up, and soon after, word of Madigan’s unmissable performance spread so quickly that this late-summer freakout film became a bona fide blockbuster.

From Salon

The latest national freakout concerns the new, expanded 12-team playoff, and the frequency of blowouts, and whether or not the organizers should continue to award invitations to qualifying but still underdog schools from smaller “Group of Five” conferences.

From The Wall Street Journal

Rivers’s signing had provoked a freakout over NFL development—Is America’s quarterback shortage this bleak?—but there was something to be said about having someone who’d done this before, many times.

From The Wall Street Journal