Word of the Day: Panic

pan-ic / panik

 

noun

1. a sudden fear or anxiety which can lead to irrational thought or behavior

Fear cannot be banished, but it can be calm and without panic; it can be mitigated by reason and evaluation.

Vannevar Bush, 1890-1974

 

2. an instance or outbreak of sudden fear or anxiety

The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., 1841-1935

 

3. sudden overbearing distrust of a banking institution, usually causing banking and mercantile failure

The Panic of 1819 exerted a profound effect on American economic thought.

Murray Rothbard, 1926-1995

 

verb

1. to feel or cause alarm

He who remains calm while those around him panic probably doesn’t know what’s going on.

Leo Buscaglia, 1924-1998

 

adjective

1. of or relating to a sudden feeling of fear or anxiety

I get panic attacks in big crowds.

Live Schreiber, 1967-

 

2. of or relating to the god Pan (with initial capital letter)

‘Panic’ comes from the name of the Greek god Pan, who supposedly sometimes caused humans to flee in unreasoning fear.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-mythological-origin-of-panic