panicky
Meaning
feeling or showing sudden, uncontrollable fear or anxiety
characterized by or resulting from panic
Structure
Usage
she felt panicky when she realized she was lost in the unfamiliar city.
his panicky voice on the phone made us rush to his aid immediately.
the stock market showed panicky selling after the unexpected news broke.
Etymology
the word 'panicky' is a modern english formation built upon the noun 'panic'. the noun 'panic' originates from the greek panikon, meaning 'of pan', referring to pan, the greek god of the wild who was believed to cause groundless, infectious fear in herds and people. the suffix '-y', of old english/germanic origin, is a highly productive adjectival suffix meaning 'having the quality of' or 'inclined to'. thus, 'panicky' literally means 'having the quality of panic', directly linking the ancient concept of terror induced by a deity to the modern psychological state of sudden, overwhelming anxiety. the word's logic perfectly captures the essence of a feeling that is as sudden and irrational as the mythical fear attributed to pan.
Analysis
panic (from greek panikon, via latin and french, meaning 'of pan' or 'sudden terror'); y (from old english -ig, a common suffix forming adjectives meaning 'characterized by' or 'full of').