# moral panic

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A semi-spontaneous or media-generated mass movement based on the perception that an individual, group, community, or culture is dangerously deviant and poses a menace to society; a public outcry.

## Etymology
Modern usage appears to originate with Jock Young in 1971 and Stanley Cohen in 1972. Cohen states that "[they] both probably picked it up from Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media".

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/moral-panic