panic
Of fear, fright, etc: overwhelming or sudden.
Adjective 2 meanings
Of fear, fright, etc: overwhelming or sudden.
Pertaining to or resulting from overwhelming fear or fright.
Noun 4 meanings
Overwhelming fear or fright, often affecting groups of people or animals; (countable) an instance of this; a fright, a scare.
A rapid reduction in asset prices due to broad efforts to raise cash in anticipation of such prices continuing to decline.
A highly amusing or entertaining performer, performance, or show; a riot, a scream.
Foxtail millet or Italian millet (Setaria italica), the second-most widely grown species of millet.
Verb 4 meanings
To cause (someone) to feel panic (“overwhelming fear or fright”); also, to frighten (someone) into acting hastily.
To cause (a computer system) to crash.
To highly amuse, entertain, or impress (an audience watching a performance or show).
To feel panic, or overwhelming fear or fright; to freak out, to lose one's head.
Etymology
The adjective is borrowed from Middle French panique, a word itself borrowed from Ancient Greek πανικός (panikós, “pertaining to Pan”); Pan, the Greek god of fields and woods, was believed to be the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots.
Similar and opposite words
PANIC at a glance
PANIC has 5 letters and scores 9 points in Scrabble (P 3 + A 1 + N 1 + I 1 + C 3) and 12 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #4,535 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with panic
All rhymesOne letter away
- MANIC9
- PANIM9
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