consternation
kon-ster-NAY-shunnounMeaning sudden alarm and confusion; shocked dismay
Memory hook the whole NATION STARES in alarm. At the town fair, the giant cake begins to topple, and the whole crowd stares and gasps in alarm: consternation!
To the baker’s consternation, the wedding cake slid right off the cart.
In context The lights went out just as the play reached its final scene, and consternation swept through the theater: people gasped, phones lit up and the actors froze.
Similar dismay, alarm, shock, panic
Opposite calm, composure, delight
From Latin consternatio, “dismay, alarm,” from consternare, “to throw into confusion.”