Feeling sudden, overwhelming fear or anxiety that makes it hard to think clearly or act rationally.
From 'panic,' which comes from Greek 'paniki' (from Pan, the god of forests and wild places whose sudden appearance supposedly caused irrational fear). The suffix '-y' was added in the 1800s to make it an adjective.
The ancient Greeks literally blamed the god Pan for causing mass panic, which is why we still call sudden, unreasonable fear 'panic'—it's like saying 'Pan got into your head!'
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