Meaning & use
panicked
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Filled with a sudden, overwhelming fear that makes it hard to think or act sensibly.
Grammar: Can come before a noun or after a verb: a panicked driver, he looked panicked.
Patterns
- panicked about something
- panicked by something
A panicked shopper ran out of the store without paying.
She sounded panicked on the phone and could barely explain what had happened.
The panicked crowd rushed toward the single exit.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Past tense and past participle of panic, meaning to be seized by sudden fear and act without thinking.
Grammar: Usually no object: he panicked. It can take one meaning to frighten: the noise panicked the horses.
Patterns
- panic at something
- panic someone
When the lights went out, several children panicked.
The loud explosion panicked the horses, and they bolted.
I panicked and forgot my own phone number.
Word forms
| present | panic |
|---|---|
| third person singular | panics |
| -ing form | panicking |
Common combinations
- a panicked voice
- A panicked voice called from the stairwell.
- panicked crowd
- Police tried to calm the panicked crowd.
- panicked phone call
- I got a panicked phone call from my sister at midnight.
- panicked and ran
- The cat panicked and ran under the sofa.
- panicked buying
- Panicked buying emptied the shelves within hours.
Synonyms and how they differ
- frightened
- Frightened describes ordinary fear, whereas panicked means the fear has taken over and judgment has gone.
- terrified
- Terrified is extreme fear in general, but it does not necessarily involve losing control of actions the way panicked does.
- frantic
- Frantic stresses wild, rushed activity, while panicked stresses the fear behind it.
- alarmed
- Alarmed is milder and means worried by a possible danger, without the loss of control that panicked implies.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: panicked or panicking?
panicked vs panicking
Panicking describes the fear as it is happening, whereas panicked can describe a state or a finished action.
Practice
The loud bang _____ the sheep, and they scattered across the field.
Choose one answer.
Here panicked is a past-tense transitive verb meaning to frighten. Was panicked would need the sheep as the subject, and the other forms do not fit the past tense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “panicked”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.