What does panic mean?
Definitions for panic
ˈpæn ɪkpan·ic
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word panic.
Princeton's WordNet
panic, terror, affrightnoun
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
panic, scareverb
sudden mass fear and anxiety over anticipated events
"panic in the stock market"; "a war scare"; "a bomb scare led them to evacuate the building"
panicverb
be overcome by a sudden fear
"The students panicked when told that final exams were less than a week away"
panicverb
cause sudden fear in or fill with sudden panic
"The mere thought of an isolation cell panicked the prisoners"
Wiktionary
panicnoun
Overpowering fright, often affecting groups of people or animals.
panicnoun
Rapid reduction in asset prices due to broad efforts to raise cash in anticipation of continuing decline in asset prices.
panicverb
To feel overwhelming fear.
panicadjective
Pertaining to the god Pan.
panicadjective
Of fear, fright etc: sudden or overwhelming (attributed by the ancient Greeks to the influence of Pan).
Panicadjective
Pandean
Etymology: From panique, from πανικός. Pan is the god of woods and fields who was the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots.
Wikipedia
panic
Proposition 64 was a proposition in the state of California on the November 4, 1986 ballot. It was an initiative statute that would have restored Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) to the list of communicable diseases. The measure was defeated by a margin of 71% to 29%. Activists associated with Lyndon LaRouche formed the "Prevent AIDS Now Initiative Committee" (PANIC) to place what became "Proposition 64" on the California state ballot. The initiative was written by Khushro Ghandhi. who was also the president of PANIC. Brian Lantz was vice-president and Ted Andromidas was treasurer
ChatGPT
panic
Panic is an intense and sudden feeling of fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior or an irrational desire to flee or escape the perceived danger or threat. It is usually triggered by a stressful or threatening situation and can result in physical symptoms such as increased heart rate, shortness of breath, sweating, and trembling.
Webster Dictionary
Panicnoun
a plant of the genus Panicum; panic grass; also, the edible grain of some species of panic grass
Panicadjective
extreme or sudden and causeless; unreasonable; -- said of fear or fright; as, panic fear, terror, alarm
Panicadjective
a sudden, overpowering fright; esp., a sudden and groundless fright; terror inspired by a trifling cause or a misapprehension of danger; as, the troops were seized with a panic; they fled in a panic
Panicadjective
by extension: A sudden widespread fright or apprehension concerning financial affairs
Etymology: [L. panicum.]
Wikidata
Panic
Panic is a sudden sensation of fear which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reaction. Panic may occur singularly in individuals or manifest suddenly in large groups as mass panic. The word panic derives from the Greek πανικός, "pertaining to shepherd god Pan", who took amusement from frightening herds of goats and sheep into sudden bursts of uncontrollable fear. The ancient Greeks credited the battle of Marathon's victory to Pan, using his name for the frenzied, frantic fear exhibited by the fleeing enemy soldiers. Prehistoric men used mass panic as a technique when hunting animals, especially ruminants. Herds reacting to unusually strong sounds or unfamiliar visual effects were directed towards cliffs, where they eventually jumped to their deaths when cornered. Humans are also vulnerable to panic and it is often considered infectious, in the sense one person's panic may easily spread to other people nearby and soon the entire group acts irrationally, but people also have the ability to prevent and/or control their own and others' panic by disciplined thinking or training. Architects and city planners try to accommodate the symptoms of panic, such as herd behavior, during design and planning, often using simulations to determine the best way to lead people to a safe exit and prevent congestion. The most effective methods are often non-intuitive. A tall column, approximately 1 ft in diameter, placed in front of the door exit at a precisely calculated distance, may speed up the evacuation of a large room by up to 30%, as the obstacle divides the congestion well ahead of the choke point.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Panic
pan′ik, n. extreme or sudden fright: great terror without any visible ground or foundation: a state of terror about investments produced by some startling collapse in credit, impelling men to rush and sell what they possess.—adj. of the nature of a panic: extreme or sudden: imaginary.—adj. Pan′icky (coll.), inclined to panic or sudden terror, affected by financial panic.—n. Pan′ic-mong′er, one who creates panics.—adjs. Pan′ic-strick′en, Pan′ic-struck, struck with a panic or sudden fear. [Orig. an adj.; Gr. panikon (deima), 'panic' (fear), from panikos, belonging to Pan, god of the woods.]
U.S. National Library of Medicine
Panic
A state of extreme acute, intense anxiety and unreasoning fear accompanied by disorganization of personality function.
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
panic
A sudden fright; especially, a sudden fright without real cause, or terror inspired by a trifling cause, or misapprehension of danger; as, the troops were seized with a panic; they fled in a panic. These terrors are attributed to Pan, as some say, because when Osiris was bound by Typho, Pan and the satyrs appearing, cast him into a fright; or because he frightened all the giants that waged war against Jupiter; or, as others say, that when Pan was Bacchus’s lieutenant-general in his Indian expedition, being encompassed in a valley by an army of enemies far superior to them in number, he advised the god to order his men to give a general shout, which so surprised the enemy that they immediately fled from their camp. And hence it came to pass that all sudden fears impressed upon men’s spirits without any just reason were, by the Greeks and Romans, called panic terrors.
Suggested Resources
panic
Song lyrics by panic -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by panic on the Lyrics.com website.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
PANIC
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Panic is ranked #121590 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Panic surname appeared 142 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Panic.
97.1% or 138 total occurrences were White.
British National Corpus
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'panic' in Nouns Frequency: #2025
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of panic in Chaldean Numerology is: 9
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of panic in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Examples of panic in a Sentence
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky:
And the truth is that we have different information. And now the best friend for enemies is panic in our country. And all this information helps only to create panic, doesn't help us.
I think the propensity for panic among the population is much, much higher than it has been, i think we have to worry about prices, supply and crowd behavior.
There isn’t a sense of panic with this team … a lot of it is looking at yourself and what you can do to help the team, that takes out the finger-pointing if you hold yourself accountable.
Employees are in panic mode.
Today's correction, following previous days' strong rebound, is natural, it's different from the panic selling we saw previously, when liquidity dried up and investors couldn't sell their shares.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for panic
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- هلع, خوف, رعب, ذعرArabic
- panikařit, panikaCzech
- panikDanish
- PanikGerman
- πανικός, πανικοβάλλομαιGreek
- panikoEsperanto
- aterrarse, pánicoSpanish
- paniikkiFinnish
- paniqueFrench
- maoimScottish Gaelic
- pánikHungarian
- խուճապArmenian
- panicoItalian
- בּHebrew
- パニック, 恐慌Japanese
- 공황, 恐慌Korean
- maurirereMāori
- paniekDutch
- ił hóóyééʼNavajo, Navaho
- panika, panikowaćPolish
- pânicoPortuguese
- a se panicaRomanian
- паника, паниковатьRussian
- panikaSlovak
- panikSwedish
- панікуватиUkrainian
Get even more translations for panic »
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"panic." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 13 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/panic>.
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