慌
huāng · HSK 5
to get panicky
😱 忄(heart) + 荒 (huāng, wild/barren) — heart goes wild = panic
The 忄radical marks emotion; 荒 supplies both the huāng sound and the sense of wild/desolate. Together: a heart gone wild and untamed, i.e. panicky and losing one's head.
慌 — heart radical 忄 + 荒 huāng (wild)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the heart radical 忄 gives the meaning (an emotional state), while 荒 supplies the sound huāng and a hint of 'wild, barren.' Originally suggesting a heart in disarray like wasteland, it came to mean flustered, panicked, or in a hurry.