psych
1or psyche
[ sahyk ]
/ saɪk /
verb (used with object) Informal.
to intimidate or frighten psychologically, or make nervous (often followed by out): to psych out the competition.
to prepare psychologically to be in the right frame of mind or to give one's best (often followed by up): to psych oneself up for an interview.
to figure out psychologically; decipher (often followed by out): to psych out a problem.
Origin of psych
1
1915–20 in earlier sense “to subject to psychoanalysis”; originally a shortening of
psychoanalyze; in later use (especially in
defs 1, 2) perhaps independent use of
psych-
Definition for psych out (2 of 2)
psych-out
[ sahyk-out ]
/ ˈsaɪkˌaʊt /
noun Informal.
an act or instance of psyching out.
Origin of psych-out
First recorded in 1960–65; noun use of verb phrase
psych out
British Dictionary definitions for psych out (1 of 2)
psych out
verb (mainly tr, adverb) informal
to guess correctly the intentions of (another); outguess
to analyse or solve (a problem, etc) psychologically
to intimidate or frighten
(intr, adverb)
to lose control psychologically; break down
British Dictionary definitions for psych out (2 of 2)
Word Origin for psych
C20: shortened from
psychoanalyse
Idioms and Phrases with psych out
psych out
Analyze or understand something; also, anticipate the intentions of someone, as in It's hard to psych out the opposition's thinking, but we have to try.
Undermine the confidence of, intimidate. For example, The basketball team managed to psych out their opponents' guards. This expression is often used in the passive and can mean “lose one's nerve,” as in After I learned that he had two doctorates in the field, I was completely psyched out. Both slangy usages date from the second half of the 1900s and allude to influencing someone psychologically.