Literary expression describing a state of rushing or acting with urgency. Rare in everyday speech; mostly found in written narratives.
He rushed out of the house in great haste.
Common everyday word for 'in a hurry' or 'flustered'; 倉皇として is much more literary and formal.
Standard neutral word for 'hurriedly'; 倉皇として carries a stronger sense of flustered haste and is rarely used in conversation.
Literary kanji spelling; 倉皇 is a rare compound meaning 'hurried'.
Variant kanji spelling; 蒼惶 is also rare and literary.
The expression 倉皇として derives from the classical Chinese compound 倉皇 (cānghuáng), meaning 'in a fluster' or 'hurriedly'. The Japanese reading そうこう is the on'yomi of the characters. The exact historical path into Japanese is uncertain, but it remains a literary borrowing.