psyching (up)

verb

present participle of psych (up)
as in bracing
to prepare (oneself) mentally or emotionally I have to psych myself up before every swimming competition

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for psyching (up)
  1. bracing
  2. fortifying
Verb
  • This bifurcated reality—strong revenue growth alongside deteriorating loan books—suggests banks are bracing for a potential economic downturn.
    — Mayra Rodriguez Valladares, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
  • More than 60 million people from Ohio to Massachusetts and Virginia are bracing for possible flash flooding on Monday following a deadly holiday weekend heat wave that left much of the East Coast sweltering in triple-digit temperatures.
    — Kenton Gewecke, ABC News, 6 July 2026
Definition of bracing
Verb
  • The Gulf has made significant progress in fortifying its cyber resilience and digital infrastructure, but many argue that its insurance frameworks have not kept pace with the growing systemic risks posed by today’s cybercriminals.
    — Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 7 July 2026
  • Moscow has spent years fortifying Crimea, tripling its troop presence, deploying advanced air defenses and coastal batteries, and studding the land with missile launch systems.
    — Marc Santora, New York Times, 4 July 2026
Definition of fortifying
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

psyching (out)
psyching (up)
psycho
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Psyching (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/psyching%20%28up%29. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All