Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for psyching (out)
Verb
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Clumsiness notwithstanding, bringing a criminal case against a journalist who was reporting on a protest is an authoritarian tactic—a means of frightening the press away from uncovering the truth.—
Quinta Jurecic,
The Atlantic,
30 Jan. 2026 -
But monks there complained that the slain king was walking around at night, frightening them with strange sounds.—
Rivka Galchen,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Directed by Lee Sang-min, the film stars Kim Hye-yoon and Lee Jong-won as a road-view camera crew that encounters terrifying supernatural events at a remote reservoir.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
13 Apr. 2026
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The air in the room changed immediately, terrifying little Liza.—
Elisabeth Garber-Paul,
Rolling Stone,
14 Mar. 2026
Verb
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While some online say their attire looks intimidating, people who have worked with them personally say otherwise.—
Carmela Karcher,
CBS News,
18 Apr. 2026
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Manufacturers typically design steering wheel locks to look intimidating to thieves.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This isn’t a film about trauma, or smuggled-in social issues, or anything at all, really, besides the honest workaday business of scaring the bejesus out of its audience, rinsing, and repeating with extra vigor.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
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And with it almost out in the world, that’s scaring him a little bit.—
David Canfield,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But when a sadistic local (Taron Egerton) begins terrorizing her, a frantic chase ensues.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Apr. 2026
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State wildlife officials have finally come up with a theory to explain how a giant, highly destructive rodent that’s been terrorizing California might have come from Oregon.—
Samantha Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Plus, these formulas aren’t limited to softening and smoothing only certain hair textures.—
Conçetta Ciarlo,
Vogue,
21 Apr. 2026
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Some galleries have had pigment—blue, red, black—mixed into the concrete, softening the material’s sterility.—
Maximilíano Durón,
ARTnews.com,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The prospect of an acute and prolonged oil shortage threatened to drive up prices for a vast array of goods, sapping energy from consumer spending, which powers most of the nation's economic growth.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
10 Apr. 2026
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Sharply rising oil prices and sudden shortages of critical materials such as fertilizer can quickly permeate an economy and cause all kinds of goods and services to increase in price while sapping precious household income.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Dunk’s blemishes against Liverpool were compounded by an unfortunate yellow card for time wasting in the closing stages when referee Darren England decided too long had been taken with Verbruggen over a goal kick.—
Andy Naylor,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2026
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Many complained about time-wasting technology platforms.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Psyching (out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/psyching%20%28out%29. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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