panic attack

NOUN

anxiety attack

Synonyms

STRONGEST

spasm

WEAK

fit of terror panic panic disorder scare

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.

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

Mental health charity Mind recommends following these steps during a panic attack:

From BBC • Mar. 22, 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 had a random panic attack a couple of months ago that landed me in the emergency room, and Mom freaked the heck out.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam