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Synonyms

panic attack

American  

noun

Psychiatry.

  1. an intense attack of anxiety characterized by feelings of impending doom and trembling, sweating, pounding heart, and other physical symptoms.

panic attack British  

noun

  1. an episode of acute and disabling anxiety associated with such physical symptoms as hyperventilation and sweating See also panic disorder

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

On the main stage, May Habib, chief executive of an AI platform called Writer, told the audience that Fortune 500 bosses are having a "collective panic attack" on the subject.

From Barron's • Apr. 12, 2026

Shear says he first began his original screenplay with an image of a young man having a panic attack in the self-help section of a bookshop and grew the script from there.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026

Irish filmmaker John Kelly, who specializes in animation, had a panic attack on an airplane while going through endless flagged emails.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 13, 2026

Equities fell again on the bad news, but none of this is a cause for a panic attack.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

I’d been on the edge of a panic attack, thinking that I’d lose her.

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.