freakout

[ freek-out ]

noun

1. an act or instance of freaking out.
2. a person who freaks out.

verb phrase

1. to lose or cause to lose emotional control from extreme excitement, shock, fear, joy, despair, etc.:

   Seeing the dead body completely freaked him out.

2. to enter into or cause a period of irrational behavior or emotional instability, especially under the influence of a drug:

   to be freaked out on LSD.

Word History and Origins

Origin of freakout¹

First recorded in 1965–70; noun use of verb phrase freak out (in the sense “to lose one's emotional control”

Example Sentences

However, Lauren Bradshaw of Fangirl Freakout said: "Emilia Pérez is a magnificent, genre-bending thrill ride that transcends the typical movie construct, breathing a fresh burst of excitement into the way we think about film."

From BBC

But “Sisters,” a proper freakout starring Margot Kidder, playing conjoined twins, is the first of what we now think of as a De Palma movie: a psychosexual nightmare with madman instincts.

From Los Angeles Times

Senate Democrats continued to run well ahead of Biden even at the height of Democrats’ public freakout last month, but it has been nearly 200 years since a party flipped a chamber of Congress while losing the presidency, and Democrats were spooked by apocalyptic internal polling that showed them slipping even in once safe states like Virginia and Minnesota.

From Slate

The impetus for this freakout was a bill signed by Walz last year requiring public schools to make menstrual products available to students at no charge.

From Salon

In the immediate aftermath, Democrats went from uneasy to total freakout.

From Slate