psych

1

or psyche

[ sahyk ]
See synonyms for psych on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),psyched, psych·ing.
  1. to make happily excited or full of eager anticipation: Your stories about Edinburgh have psyched me more than ever for my trip there next year!

  2. to prepare mentally and emotionally so as to be in the right frame of mind to do one's best (often followed by up): He sat with his eyes closed in the aircraft, psyching himself for his first parachute jump.

  1. to intimidate, make nervous, mislead, etc., in order to gain an advantage: A good chess player knows how to psych the opponent.

interjection
  1. Sometimes sike . (used after deliberately misleading someone, to let them know they’ve been fooled): I’ve decided to put the house up for sale, and the agent is coming by in an hour . . . Psych!

Verb Phrases
  1. psych out. See entry at psych-out.

  2. psych up,

    • to prepare mentally and emotionally for a challenge: I have to psych myself up for the annual family reunion.

    • to create excitement and eager anticipation in: Beach parties, road trips, stargazing, barbecues—here are 10 tunes to psych you up for summer!

Origin of psych

1
First recorded in 1915–20 in earlier sense “to subject to psychoanalysis”; originally a shortening of psychoanalyze; in later use (especially in defs. 2, 3 ), perhaps as independent use of psych-

Other definitions for psych (2 of 5)

psych2
[ sahyk ]

nounInformal.
  1. psychology, especially as a course or field of study: She took two semesters of psych in college.

Origin of psych

2
First recorded in 1890–95; by shortening

Other definitions for psych (3 of 5)

psych3
[ sahyk ]

adjective
  1. psychedelic: stunning psych colors and patterns.

Origin of psych

3
First recorded in 1985–90

Other definitions for psych- (4 of 5)

psych-

  1. variant of psycho- before some vowels: psychasthenia.

Other definitions for psych. (5 of 5)

psych.

abbreviation
  1. psychological.

  2. psychologist.

  1. psychology.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use psych in a sentence

  • Usually crews that had to wait hours before passing through psych raised a big fuss.

    Unthinkable | Roger Phillips Graham
  • That was the trouble with crews of ships when they thought they might be held up by psych over something.

    Unthinkable | Roger Phillips Graham
  • The psych man was wearing his Star Watcher helmet and had a B-gun strapped at his side.

    What Rough Beast? | Jefferson Highe
  • And if I involved myself in any conspiracy against the Lhari, they'd find it out in the routine psych-checking.

    The Colors of Space | Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • And we've learned enough individual psych to do some real indoctrinating!

    The Sensitive Man | Poul William Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for psych

psych

psyche

/ (saɪk) /


verb
  1. (tr) informal to psychoanalyse: See also psych out, psych up

Origin of psych

1
C20: shortened from psychoanalyse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012