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You look ___. No need to rush! It's 7.52 am!

I'm looking for a word that illustrate someone doing something but they are in rush.

For example, I had told to be early in a meeting and I woke up late. I'm panic and afraid if my boss will lecture me again, so I put on my clothes and run to my office. I don't even take a shower, don't eat, and have no time to comb my hair

My best thought is 'consternation', because I realized that I woke up late and I only have 10 minutes before the meeting starts. However, I don't think it's a better word, though. I need a verb or an adjective, and if I'm in a condition that's described by this word, it's likely that I'm sweating, worried, and a bit dizzy.

It exists in my language, but I can't help to inform you this, because it's a kind of slang or word that you will never find on Google. It's a dialect and it doesn't even exist on my native language dictionary. Some native people in my country would possibly don't understand this word. Nevertheless, it's used in my town. I mention all of this because this situation can possibly be described by one word without telling what the word is that I have in my language.

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  • Are you looking for a word to fill in that blank, or a word to describe someone doing something quick? I can't think of a word that does both.
    – gotube
    Dec 22, 2021 at 3:42

1 Answer 1

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Maybe flustered.

For example:

Q. Would you characterize Mr. Kelly at the scene as being calm, cool, and collected?
A. Hardly.
Q. He was nervous, flustered?
A. I guess that would be pretty accurate.

Consternation is a state, so it doesn't exactly work in "Don't be ____."

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  • But flustered doesn't mean doing something too quickly, which is what the OP asked for. I don't think there's an answer to this question.
    – gotube
    Dec 22, 2021 at 3:42
  • @gotube I agree, but I don't think there's any one English word that captures that and "it's likely that I'm sweating, worried, and a bit dizzy". We could just say "in a rush", or "in a hurry", but those don't capture the other aspects the OP is asking about.
    – stangdon
    Dec 22, 2021 at 4:01
  • Exactly a word that I want. Thank you so much. It answers my question by the way.
    – user516076
    Dec 22, 2021 at 7:11
  • @gotube I'm sorry. Because of my lack of vocabulary, I couldn't describe it well. I do hope people will edit my post so that it looks neat and understandable, though.
    – user516076
    Dec 22, 2021 at 7:13
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    @user516076 I'm happy you got the word you wanted! The other thing that confused me was, "Don't be ___." You cannot tell someone not to be flustered, just like you can't tell someone, "Don't be in pain!" They have no choice. So I've edited the title and the top of the question so maybe this question will be helpful to someone else some day
    – gotube
    Dec 22, 2021 at 8:09

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