慌てふためく

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 慌てふためく (あわてふためく) is a compound verb depicting an intense, visibly flustered reaction to a sudden problem.
• Basic usage: 停電に慌てふためいた reports a group’s completed reaction to an outage, whereas 慌てふためく弟 is a relative clause describing a brother distressed by a missing wallet.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Event reaction and person-modifying clause
  • 突然の停電に identifies the event triggering panic, while the dictionary form in 慌てふためく弟 modifies the brother in the current scene. The latter does not express future panic.