psych (out)

verb

Definition of psych (out)next
as in to scare

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for psych (out)
  1. scare
  2. frighten
  3. intimidate
  4. terrorize
  5. terrify
  6. sap
  7. soften
  8. waste
Verb
  • Smaller payouts scare off potential investors, meaning promising treatments are often left on a shelf.
    — Brad Quick, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Historians say the horns may have been blown to scare evil spirits, to proclaim victories, or as a way to encourage divine mercy.
    — Lois K. Solomon, Sun Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of scare
Verb
  • The aggressive approach deeply disrupted and frightened the participants.
    — Kimmie Gordon, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Penelope, too, is asked to occupy a landscape that frightens her, not only as a neurodivergent child in a neurotypical culture, but as a child now situated in an adult world.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of frighten
Verb
  • The Basij boosted its presence during the war, and hard-liners have held nightly rallies in Tehran and other cities, drumming up support and intimidating any possible dissenters.
    — Lee Keath, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Civil rights organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union accused the department of attempting to intimidate the public by arming agents with another use-of-force option.
    — Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of intimidate
Verb
  • Arrest documents offered a flurry of new details about two former Phoenix police officers suspected of terrorizing a couple during a traffic stop and failing to document or report the stop.
    — Perry Vandell, AZCentral.com, 26 Aug. 2026
  • For decades, Blythe Street gang terrorized Panorama City despite injunctions, beautification projects and millions in investment.
    — Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of terrorize
Verb
  • Jaylen Edgar, the teenager tried for the 2024 Halloween mass shooting in downtown Orlando that killed two, injured several others and terrified thousands, was found guilty of all charges Monday.
    — Cristóbal Reyes, The Orlando Sentinel, 24 Aug. 2026
  • For Thomas, unpacking what went wrong goes well beyond the headless bodies, terrifying phone calls and dead ends.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of terrify
Verb
  • After more than 26 years of drought and climate change sapped the river's supply, the nation's two largest reservoirs — Lake Powell and Lake Mead — are at record lows.
    — Alex Hager, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Mental health conditions such as depression can sap both energy and motivation, while medical issues including hypothyroidism, anemia and chronic fatigue syndrome can also cause debilitating symptoms.
    — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of sap
Verb
  • Talanx German insurer Talanx 's lean cost base and 6 billion euros of resilience reserves can help sustain earnings growth, even as pricing softens in its reinsurance and corporate-specialty units, according to Goldman.
    — Hugh Leask, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Instead of guessing the right prompt keywords, a user can simply instruct the model to track the camera left, soften the lighting or maintain a character's expression across different scenes.
    — Coco Mao, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of soften
Verb
  • The next milestone will be moving beyond individual production lines and demonstrating that waste plastic-to-SAF systems can operate reliably, economically and at a scale to become a meaningful source of aviation fuel.
    — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The Dodgers dropped another one-run heartbreaker in Detroit, wasting Blake Snell’s five innings of one-run baseball as the Tigers walked off with a 2-1 win.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of waste
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

psychotic
psych (out)
psychs (out)
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Cite this Entry

“Psych (out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/psych%20%28out%29. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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